Conservation d'un cabinet-bibliothèque en marqueterie Boulle du musée du Louvre (XVIIIe siècle). Etude de colles animales : détermination et collage bois-laiton

Abstract :This thesis focuses on a group of nine dissociated furniture elements from the Louvre Museum's storage facility.These pieces, which were recently rediscovered, are identified as pilasters from a bookcase-cabinet and is dated from the early 18th century. The historical research, combined with the technical study of these pieces, shed light on the material history and alterations undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries. Numerous connections were established between the bookcase-cabinet pieces from the Louvre and the creations of André-Charles Boulle. There are no other known examples of this type of Boulle architectural furniture dated from the early 18th century. Indeed, these large scale compositions have often been dismantled and reused on smaller furniture. The studied elements, which underwent surprisingly few interventions since the beginning of the 19th century, provide us with valuable information on the techniques used in the manufacture and preservation of Boulle marquetry. The first scientific research aim of this thesis was to develop an immunological technique (ELISA) to determine the origin of the glues used in cabinetmaking; the second was to identify the most appropriate glue for the conservation treatments of brass adhesion to wood (problematic alteration of Boulle marquetry). Conservation treatments were carried out (marquetry stabilization, reunion of the elements of both pilasters) with the aim to pursue in the future the analysis and study of these rare relics of somptuous creations from the beginning of the 18th century.