Art & Architecture
article | Reading time8 min
Among the curiosities collected and exhibited at the château by Jean Mouliérat, the boxes are undoubtedly the most original and the most varied!
Print box
Christian devotion in the size of a box.
This rare object tells us of a time when travellers on the road would take a moment to pray, contemplating a pious image. However, the print box is not exactly a messenger's box. Used as a miniature altarpiece, it could also be kept permanently as an object of worship, with the box serving to store a pious book.
Here,Saint Barbara protects the bearer of the box and his precious cargo. The simplicity of the woodcut, with its clear lines and reduced number of colours, leads straight to the essential point: the identification of the saint.
The wooden box is reinforced with iron bands, and an elaborate lock ensures the confidentiality of the contents.
© David Bordes - Centre des monuments nationaux
Liqueur Cellar
What does the bottle matter as long as you get drunk? The idea is open to debate, to say the least. If the container is surprising in its originality and luxury, the pleasure is undoubtedly heightened: the proof is in this liqueur cellar, sheathed in leather and adorned with gilded iron motifs.
The case is built like a small fortified castle, as if to underline the value of the contents and ensure their safekeeping: four decanters of liqueur are housed in cosy, felt-lined compartments. The lock protects against poisons and... abuse! A figurine of Bacchus seated on a barrel and brandishing his cup adorns each point of the box, like a call to libations.
© Pascal Lemaître - Centre des monuments nationaux
Gilded wooden box
Against a background of plant ornaments, several motifs evoke opulence and aristocratic leisure. A young nobleman in a doublet, a woman wearing a horned headdress, and a hawk hunting are all images of an idealised seigneurial life. A more exotic detail is the harnessed elephant facing a rider on the front of the box.
A fine ornamental and storage object, this piece was intended for a wealthy clientele keen on outward signs of refinement.
© Pascal Lemaître - Centre des monuments nationaux
Box with roof-shaped lid
Another example of a design that combines solidity and aesthetic qualities.
The wooden frame with its iron cladding and lock hint at its valuable contents. Practical and handy with its top handle, this box was easy to transport. The leather, adorned with stylised plant motifs, was also a decorative object.
© Pascal Lemaître - Centre des monuments nationaux
Louis XV miniature chest of drawers
With its three drawers and its precious marquetry work, this miniature piece of furniture could have been used as a jewellery box, a letter box or a simple storage space. We can also imagine it as a doll's chest in the hands of a little girl from a golden childhood. Different uses, perhaps at different times...
Finally, the boxed set evokes the "masterpieces" of journeymen or "reception works", virtuoso creations crowning a long period of training and a completed tour of France. The apprentice thus becomes master or "finished companion".
Whatever the origin of the object, it brilliantly encapsulates all the skills of the cabinetmaker.
© David Bordes - Centre des monuments nationaux
The subject file
