Marquetry Mirror Attributed To Noël Hache – 17th Century

A large and beautiful Louis XIII mirror with a reverse-profile frame, featuring marquetry in native woods (olive, walnut, sycamore, and bog oak) and dating to the 17th century.

It is adorned with geometric panels framed by light and dark wood stringing, including heart-shaped spandrels in the corners. The design is enhanced by an attractive wavy chevron frieze.

Marquetry decoration featuring acanthus leaves—executed using the "hot sand-scorched wood" technique—completes this rich ornamentation.

Also notable is the frieze on the outer molding, featuring alternating light wood and bog oak.

A central molding of ebonized wood, accented with light and dark wood stringing, frames the mercury-backed glass and contrasts elegantly with the vibrant marquetry decoration.

Features wrought-iron hanging hooks, original backing, and original mercury-backed glass.

A similar mirror (listed on page 80 of the book *L'ébénisterie provinciale en France au XVIIIe siècle* by Bernard Deloche and Jean-Yves Mornand) allows us to attribute this piece to the workshop of Noël Hache.

The son of a baker, Noël Hache was born in Calais in 1635 and settled in Toulouse at the age of 21. He was admitted as a Master craftsman in Toulouse on March 26, 1665, and became the guild's "bayle"—the equivalent of a master warden—on July 29, 1667. Archival documents suggest he may have been the only *ébéniste* (fine cabinetmaker) in Toulouse around 1660; at the very least, it is a title he appears to have claimed for himself. It was likely in Calais—a small northern town relatively close to the Netherlands, a region renowned for its expertise in floral marquetry—that he first learned the craft of fine cabinetmaking; this art form was still very new in France at the time, and he would go on to introduce it to the Languedoc region.

Dimensions:

H. 104 cm x W. 90 cm

France

Attributed to Noël Hache

Walnut, sycamore, olive wood, bog oak

17th century