-finished character, completed the design. The
_Musee du Louvre_ is rich in examples of Boule's work; and there are some
very good pieces in the Jones Collection, at Hertford House, and at
Windsor Castle.

The illustration on p. 144 is the representation of an armoire, which was,
undoubtedly, executed by Boule from a design by Lebrun: it is one of a
pair which was sold in 1882, at the Hamilton Palace sale, by Messrs.
Christie, for L12,075. Another small cabinet, in the same collection,
realised L2,310. The pedestal cabinet illustrated on p. 148, from the
Jones Collection, is very similar to the latter, and cost Mr. Jones
L3,000. When specimens, of the genuineness of which there is no doubt, are
offered for sale, they are sure to realize very high prices. The armoire
in the Jones Collection, already alluded to (No. 1026), of which there is
an illustration, cost between L4,000 and L5,000.

In some of the best of Boule's cabinets, as, for instance, in the
Hamilton Palace armoire (illustrated), the bronze gilt ornaments stand out
in bold relief from the surface. In the Louvre there is one which has a
figure of _Le Grand Monarque_, clad in armour, with a Roman toga, and
wearing the full bottomed wig of the time, which scarcely accords with the
costume of a Roman general. The absurd combination which characterises
this affectation of the classic costume is also found in portraits of our
George II.

[Illustration: Pedestal Cabinet, By Boule, formerly in Mr. Baring's
Collection. Purchased by Mr. Jones for L3,000. (_South Kensington
Museum_)]

The masks, satyrs, and ram's heads, the scrolls and the foliage, are also
very bold in specimens of this class of Boule's work; and the "sun" (that
is, a mask surrounded with rays of light) is a very favourite ornament of
this period.

Boule had four sons and several pupils; and he may be said to have founded
a school of decorative furniture, which has its votaries and imitators
now, as it had in his own time. The word one frequently finds misspelt
"Buhl," and this has come to represent any similar mode of decorations on
furniture, no matter how meretricious or common it may be.

[Illustration: A Concert during the Reign of Louis XIV. (_From a
Miniature, dated 1696._)]

Later in the reign, as other influences were brought to bear upon the
taste and fashion of the day, this style of furniture became more ornate
and showy. Instead of the natural colour of the shell, either vermilion