Restoration. Conservation. Creation
And there you have it, it's finished and ready to use. All the tools are in their proper place. All that's left is to find bronze fittings for the handles and keyhole escutcheons. For the finishing technique, I used the same one applied to furniture of that period: polishing. I first scraped the surface, then sanded it with 150-grit sandpaper. Next, I applied Venetian tripoli mixed with olive oil using a piece […]
For these marquetry designs, I consulted Pierre Ramond's book, "André-Charles Boulle, Cabinetmaker, Chaser, and Marquetry Maker to the King." I used the marquetry drawings from the Boulle workshop's cabinet (circa 1715-1720). However, I removed the birds and the butterfly to simplify the design. Furthermore, I partially used the "Boulle" method for the acanthus leaves and the vase. Finally, for the flower bouquets, I chose the technique of painting on wood.
Here are some photos of the marquetry on the tool cabinet. For the corner pieces, I was inspired by those on a table by Pierre Gole, a predecessor and major influence of André-Charles Boulle. For this cabinet, I needed to make 16 corner pieces. So, to save time, I decided to use the Boulle marquetry technique. I made four bundles of different colored woods to obtain four different marquetry designs from a single cut. Therefore, there are four identical designs, but with different flower colors. Then, […]
Here are some pictures of the creation of the birds for the marquetry on the lower doors. I cut them out using a marquetry easel, then inserted them into a background of blackened pear wood. The branches are made of walnut.
I crafted the frame from solid walnut, the panels from poplar, and the doors from plywood. Then, research guided me in choosing the various marquetry motifs. Indeed, Pierre Ramond's books on marquetry, veritable bibles on the subject, greatly inspired me. Furthermore, for the decoration of the interior drawers, I drew inspiration from the "Loves" on Jean-Henri Riesener's "Table of the Muses.".
