Pierre Gole (''ca'' 1620,
Bergen, North Holland
Bergen () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its North Sea beaches and forests make it a popular destination for tourists. In 2001, the municipality was formed from a merger of the former municipaliti ...
– 27 November 1684) was an influential
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
ian ''
ébéniste
''Ébéniste'' () is a loanword (from French) for a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony.
Etymology and ambiguities
As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker in French. The English equiva ...
'' (cabinet maker), of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
extraction.
Born at
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
in the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
, he moved to Paris at an early age. In 1645 he married Anne Garbran, the daughter of his master Adrian Garbran, assuming most of the responsibility for the workshop for her mother after her father's death in 1650. Golle was the originator of
marquetry
Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furn ...
of
tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its ...
and
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
, named for
André-Charles Boulle, as "Boulle marquetry". The Boulle dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers endured to the mid-18th century.
Golle had been employed by
Cardinal Mazarin
Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...
before he was taken under royal protection; from 1656 onwards, Golle is described in documents as ''maître menuisier en ébène ordinaire du roi'' ("master ebony furniture maker-in-ordinary to the King"). By 1681 he had a workshop at the
Gobelins Manufactory
The Gobelins Manufactory () is a historic tapestry factory in Paris, France. It is located at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near Les Gobelins métro station in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally established on the site as a medieval ...
. From 1662 he supplied marquetry cabinets and numerous other pieces of case furniture for the use of the King and the Grand Dauphin at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
and other royal châteaux, the most expensive of which were several cabinets delivered over a span of years at the outstanding sum of 6000 ''
livres
The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France.
The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...
'' apiece. For the marquetry floor of the ''Cabinet Doré'' of the
Grand Dauphin
Louis, Dauphin of France (1 November 1661 – 14 April 1711), commonly known as Grand Dauphin, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV and his spouse, Maria Theresa of Spain. He became known as the Grand Dauphin after the birth of h ...
, he was paid 7500 ''livres''; the dazzling interior was swept away in new redecorations after the Dauphin's death in 1711.
Lunsingh Scheurleer identified as Golle's a table and two ''guéridons'' en suite, veneered with pewter and brass marquetry, at
Knole House
Knole () is a country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of England's large ...
, which were probably
diplomatic gift
A diplomatic gift is a gift given by a :diplomat, politician or leader when visiting a foreign country. Usually the gift is reciprocated by the host. The use of diplomatic gifts dates back to the ancient world and givers have competed to outdo e ...
s made by Louis XIV to
Lord Sackville
George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785), styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720, Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and p ...
, English ambassador. He identified as from Golle's workshop a similarly decorated desk at
Boughton. Two tripod tea or coffee tables, in ''première'' and ''contre-partie'', one in the
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
, the other in the
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood, Los Angeles, Brentwood neighborhood ...
, have been attributed to Golle by Gillian Wilson.
His son, Corneille Golle, emigrated after the
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...
(1685) and by 1689 was working with the London cabinetmaker
Gerrit Jensen
Gerrit is a Dutch male name meaning "''brave with the spear''", the Dutch and Frisian form of Gerard. People with this name include:
* Gerrit Achterberg (1905–1962), Dutch poet
* Gerrit van Arkel (1858–1918), Dutch architect
* Gerrit Badenhor ...
, supplying marquetry furniture in the latest Parisian taste to the court of
William III William III or William the Third may refer to:
Kings
* William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198)
* William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702)
* William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
and
Mary II
Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.
Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...
. There was some direct exchange with Jensen, for at his death Pierre Golle owed 400 ''livres'' to "Sieur Janson, ébéniste à Londres'', for English glue.
[Wilson 1983: 23.]
The Huguenot designer
Daniel Marot
Daniel Marot or Daniel Marot the Elder (1661–1752) was a French-born Dutch architect, furniture designer and engraver at the forefront of the classicizing Late Baroque Louis XIV style. He worked for a long time in England and the Dutch Republic ...
married Catharina Maria Gole daughter of Pierre Gole's brother Adrian.
In addition to marrying Pierre Gole's niece, Catharina, Daniel Marot also became Gole's nephew through being the son of Charlotte Garbran who was another sister of Gole's wife Anne, and was thereby his sister-in-law.
Golle died in Paris in 1684.
His name is usually spelled Gole and not Golle (see, for example, "French Furniture Makers" by Pradere)
References
*
Christophe Huchet de Quénetain Christophe may refer to:
People
* Christophe (given name), list of people with this name
* Christophe (singer) (1945–2020), French singer
* Cristophe (hairstylist) (born 1958), Belgian hairstylist
* Georges Colomb (1856–1945), French comic str ...
, ''"Un bureau de Pierre Golle (1620-1685)"'', ''L’Estampille-L’Objet d’Art, n° 416, September 2006''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golle, Pierre
1620s births
1684 deaths
People from Bergen, North Holland
French furniture designers