and with the royal protection and interest France rose to the position
of world-wide supremacy in the arts. Le Brun had the same taste and love
of magnificence as Louis, and had also extraordinary executive ability
and an almost unlimited capacity for work, combined with the power of
gathering about him the most eminent artists of the time. André Charles
Boulle was one, and his beautiful cabinets, commodes, tables, clocks,
etc., are now almost priceless. He carried the inlay of metals,
tortoise-shell, ivory and beautiful woods to its highest expression, and
the mingling of colors with the exquisite workmanship gave most
wonderful effects. Sheets of white metal or brass were glued together
and the pattern was then cut out. When taken apart the brass scrolls
could be fitted exactly into the shell background, and the shell scrolls
into the brass background, thus making two decorations. The shell
background was the more highly prized. The designs usually had a
Renaissance feeling. The metal was softened in outline by engraving, and
then ormolu mounts were added. Ormolu or gilt bronze mounts, formed one
of the great decorations of furniture. The most exquisite workmanship
was lavished on them, and after they had been cast they were cut and
carved and polished until they became worthy ornaments for beautiful
inlaid tables and cabinets. The taste for elaborately carved and gilded
frames to chairs, tables, mirrors, etc., developed rapidly. Mirrors
were made by the Gobelins works and were much less expensive than the
Venetian ones of the previous reign. Walls were painted and covered with
gold with a lavish hand. Tapestries were truly magnificent with gold and
silver threads adding richness to their beauty of color, and were used
purely as a decoration as well as in the old utilitarian way of keeping
out the cold. The Gobelins works made at this time some of the most
beautiful tapestries the world has known. The massive chimney-pieces
were superseded by the "_petite-cheminée_" and had great mirrors over
them or elaborate over-mantels. The whole air of furnishing and