Date: about 1695
Maker: Cabinetwork attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732)
Materials: Oak, walnut, ebony, turtleshell, brass, gilt bronze and steel
Measurements: 241.7 x 148.5 x 52.8 cm
Inv. no. F63
Monumental wardrobes such as this made a relatively late appearance in French furniture design, emerging in the 1680s. Probably intended for the safekeeping of documents and objects, these so-called armoires fortes could be secured under lock and key.
Boulle’s early models for these wardrobes featured panels of wood marquetry with floral motifs, but he later developed them into elaborate displays of première-partie and contre-partie marquetry and sculptural gilt-bronze mounts.
In a sumptuary declaration of 7 April 1700, Boulle’s workshop was recorded as containing nine such wardrobes, both in première-partie and contre-partie, suggesting that by this time they accounted for a significant proportion of his production.
This wardrobe is attributed to Boulle and is a slightly earlier iteration of the other examples in the Wallace Collection. It features several gilt-bronze mounts that appear on these later wardrobes, as well as other furniture by Boulle, including strapwork frames, acanthus-leaf hinges and the figure of Bacchus, the god of wine, raising a libation.
Similarly, the marquetry panels at the tops and bottoms of the doors, which show dense, scrolling foliage in première-partie, can be compared with those on other works by Boulle, such as a wardrobe in the Royal Collection, dated around 1700.
However, the wardrobe underwent some alterations before it was acquired by the 4th Marquess of Hertford from François-Ferdinand Decombe (known as ‘Albert’), a famous ballet dancer, in 1861.
It was already noted then by a critic writing for Les Beaux-Arts that the gilt-bronze heads, which perhaps represent bacchantes, the frenzied followers of Bacchus, recognisable by their crowns of ivy and lilies, were not original, nor the octagonal frames in which they sit.
Other changes had also been made, including cutting the marquetry panels on the sides in half, adding walnut veneers to the insides of the doors, rearranging the hinges and fitting the current system of shelves and racking.
Such work bears testament to the enduring popularity of Boulle’s furniture, long after his death, and the desire to adapt his work to prevailing aesthetics and ways of living.