Small chest in Boulle tortoiseshell marquetry Attributed to André Charles B

Brass Boulle marquetry box on a red tortoiseshell background and framed with brass and ebony fillets.

This rectangular box is richly inlaid on all its sides with so-called “Bérain” decoration of foliage, birds and heads. It is closed by a flat lid adorned with a cavet, decorated with foliage and acanthus leaves, and locked with a bronze.

It bears a richly figurative decoration at its summit; in the center, a seated man holds a bird in each hand. A marquee overlooks it and two monkeys, playing music, stand beside it.
It is richly surrounded by ribbons, garlands as well as a bust of a woman with a shell crown on each side, preceded by a bird with an open mouth and Indian heads in the lower part.
The upper part is decorated with stylized butterflies, birds with outstretched wings holding a stylized insect in their beak and garnished vases.

Work from the end of the 17th century attributed to André Charles Boulle
Restoration of use and maintenance

Dimensions: H 10 cm x W 29.5 cm x D 23 cm