Rare closed niche in "Boulle" marquetry of brass and pewter on a brown tortoiseshell base, finely engraved with a chisel. Rectangular in shape with a rosewood veneered capital embellished with pewter fillets, it opens on the right through a door whose reverse is darkened with a mirror (mercury). The door is richly decorated with foliate scrolls and crosses encircling a fleur-de-lys and surmounted by a lion and a dolphin; the sides, also decorated with foliate scrolls, feature a perfume burner from which scrolls emerge. The back and underside are also veneered with rosewood. Attributed to André-Charles Boulle. Louis XIV period (restorations). H. 43 cm - W. 29.5 cm - D. 25 cm Provenance : Private collection from western Paris. An unusual and unprecedented object, this niche conceals the mystery of its provenance and utility. Its inlaid decoration, of exceptional quality, allows us to attribute it to the master of this eponymous technique and notably composed of fleurs-de-lis and an allegorical group with a lion and a dauphin, suggests a royal provenance that remains a mere hypothesis to this day - the most likely hypothesis, but one that we have not been able to demonstrate. It would seem logical to think of the Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV, however, the inventory of his collections drawn up in 1689, preserved in private hands and of which a copy belongs to the collections of the Institut national de France, does not suggest a royal provenance. belongs to the collections of the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art in Paris, does not mention any objects of this type among the Boulle furniture. It is also possible that this niche may have belonged to a member of the King's family circle, perhaps one of the princes of the Maison de France. Alongside this provenance and the search for a patron, the purpose of this object is also mysterious. Clearly, it was easy to transport, as evidenced by the trace of an old handle, so it could follow its owner from chateau to chateau. The mirror on the back of the The mirror on the back of the door may provide a clue; it contained something precious that required looking at oneself to apply it to one's face or neck, obviously a substance related to toiletry, perhaps a blush or perfume bottle. André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) was the most important Parisian cabinetmaker-sculptor of the reign of Louis XIV. The son of a furniture craftsman, he achieved great renown in his thirties when Colbert recommended him to Louis XIV. He became the official supplier of furniture to the Court and Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, and designed his own furniture models, executing them in his workshop in the "Galeries du Louvre". He had studied with the painter Le Brun and designed his own "Nouveaux desseins de meubles et ouvrages de bronze et de marqueterie, inventés et gravés", published by Mariette a few decades later. Throughout his career, this unrivalled craftsman demonstrated an exceptional inventiveness that enabled him to work for the most important collectors of the time, and above all for Louis XIV, for whom he produced some of the greatest masterpieces of his time. some of the greatest masterpieces of French cabinetmaking. A cabinetmaker as well as a draughtsman and sculptor, Boulle made his own bronze models with which to adorn his creations. He was also a passionate collector Unfortunately, his collection was lost when his workshop burned down in 1720. Today, his works can be found in some of the world's most important private and public collections, including the Musée du Louvre, the Musée national du Château de Versailles, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Paris. Cleveland Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.