ANTIQUITES MOBILIER ET OBJETS D'ART

BOIS DE BOUT MARQUETRY COMMODE
STAMPED BY ADRIEN DELORME

STAMPED : by Adrien DELORME, master cabinet-maker in 1748
PERIOD : XVIIIth century, Louis XV, circa 1750-60

THE “BOIS DE BOUT” (END-CUT WOOD) MARQUETRY TECHNIQUE :

Tulipwood or satine wood veneers are sometimes used alone on a broad surface, within amaranth borders. But most of the time, they are used as background for end-cut wood marquetries, in which the motives are cut in sheets of wood sawn perpendicularly to the grain of the wood. This technique enables to obtain particular effects : the age rings underline the drawing.

DIMENSIONS :             height 35 in                width 57 in            depth 26 ½ in

Pieces of furniture by Adrien Delorme are displayed especially in the Musée Carnavalet and the Musée du Louvre in Paris, at Waddesdon Manor, in the J-Paul Getty Museum in Malibu (California) and in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

DESCRIPTION :

Commode of serpentine bombé form opening with two long drawers, under a brèche d’Alep marble top. The front and the sides are inlaid with bois de bout marquetries representing bunches of roses in kingwood on a tulipwood marquetry background, within amaranth surrounds against which stand out the rich ormolu mounts.
These asymmetrical ormolu mounts represent large pierced scrolls, cast with leaves and waves, flanking the marquetries. These scrolls form the handles of the drawers. The front is fitted with a central pendentive cast with waves. The corners are fitted with pierced ormolu chutes cast with scrolls and flowers, prolonged to the sabots.

The well-balanced shape, the naturalistic and flexible bois de bout marquetry, the thick mounts with a central pendentive are characteristic of the manner of the cabinet-maker Adrien Delorme.

ADRIEN DELORME ,master cabinet-maker in 1748 :

Adrien Delorme is one of the best cabinet-makers of the XVIIIth century, very well-known then for his marquetries.
The eldest son of the cabinet-maker François Faizelot-Delorme, he specialized in producting Chinese laquered or « Chinese laquer like » varnished pieces of furniture. His two brothers were also cabinet-makers.
In 1748, Adrien is received cabinet-maker. The same year, he married Catherine-Madeleine Duval, the widow of the cabinet-maker Albert Pottier, whose workshop and shop he takes over. He worked as a cabinet-maker and a marchand-mercier. In 1768, he is appointed juror of his community, in his father’s place. He retired in 1783.
His production consists of tables, desks, commodes and encoignures, mainly in Louis XV style. Apart from a few pieces of furniture adorned with far-east style, he has a predilection for marquetries. He created a characteristic marquetry representing scrolls on a marquetry background with a herringbone pattern in contrasted woods. He also executed many rather naturalistic floral marquetries, either in exotic woods, or in bois de bout on a light colour wood ground.
At the end of his career, he adopted the new neoclacissism style.

BIBLIOGRAPHY :

- P. Genestie, “Les Faizelot Delorme ébénistes de père en fils”, in L’Estampille-L’Objet d’art, n° 409, janvier 2006, pp. 56-65

- A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes français, de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989