Boulle marquetry cabinet with marble top

This Louis XIV style cabinet, designed in the manner of Boulle, is crafted from ebonised wood, which has been inlaid with Boulle marquetry and mounted with ormolu (gilt bronze). The cabinet is rectangular in shape, raised on a protruding base with a shaped apron, and is surmounted by a grey veined marble top.

The front door of the cabinet is inset with première-partie Boulle marquetry, with brass and pewter inlaid into the ebonised wood in an elaborate geometrical scheme. Ormolu features prominently: below the top, a coronal frieze of ormolu acanthus leaves delineates the upper register, while the uprights to each side of the door are set with an elaborate ormolu mount composed of draped laurel branches intertwined with globes, compasses, and other emblems of learning. To the sides are mounted ormolu masks, and the escutcheon of the door lock is in the guise of a mask.