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| Anonymous French Workshop Dressing Table Mirror (detail) ca. 1700 ebony inlaid with exotic materials, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| attributed to André-Charles Boulle Cabinet (detail) ca. 1710 oak veneered with ebony, marquetery of tortoiseshell and brass, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| attributed to André-Charles Boulle Cabinet (detail) ca. 1710 oak veneered with ebony, marquetery of tortoiseshell and brass, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| André-Charles Boulle Commode (detail) ca. 1710-20 walnut veneered with ebony, marquetry of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| André-Charles Boulle Commode (detail) ca. 1710-20 walnut veneered with ebony, marquetry of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Charles Cressent Commode (detail) ca. 1745-49 oak and pine veneered with exotic woods, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Bernard II van Risenburgh Writing Table (detail) ca. 1755 oak veneered with exotic woods and other materials, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Bernard II van Risenburgh Side Table (detail) ca. 1755-60 lacquered oak and pine with Japanese lacquer panels, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Denis Genty Commode (detail) ca. 1760 oak veneered with exotic woods, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Joseph Baumhauer Writing Table (detail) ca. 1760-65 oak veneered with tulip wood, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Jean-Henri Riesener Commode (detail) 1783 oak veneered with ebony and Japanese lacquer panels, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Jean-Henri Riesener Drop-Front Secretary (detail) 1783 oak veneered with ebony and Japanese lacquer panels, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Guillaume Benneman Drop-Front Secretary (detail) 1786-87 oak veneered with numerous exotic woods, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Guillaume Benneman Drop-Front Secretary (detail) 1786-87 oak veneered with numerous exotic woods, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Adam Weiseiler Drop-Front Secretary on Stand (detail) ca. 1790 oak veneered with exotic woods, Japanese and French lacquer panels, gilt-bronze mounts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"Gilt-bronze furniture mounts were first used in France on a limited scale during the second half of the seventeenth century and experienced a heyday during the eighteenth. The role of mounts on furniture was primarily functional. The feet, or sabots (literally, clogs), and corner mounts protected the wood against damage from being knocked about or moved in carts from one residence to the next. The escutcheon framing the keyhole would prevent the key from scratching the veneer, and handles allowed access to the drawers. Furthermore, gilt-bronze mounts helped to emphasize the outline of a piece of furniture, which became especially important during the Rococo period with its preference for serpentine shapes. They certainly enriched the overall appearance of the piece that they adorned through their shimmering gilded or varnished surfaces. During the Baroque and Rococo periods, the mounts added a lively, sculptural element, while during the Neoclassical and Empire periods they became more and more decorative, reaching the refinement of jewelry.
The creation of gilt-bronze mounts involved many different steps and was principally the work of bronze makers. Although cabinet makers were not allowed to make their own mounts, they must have closely collaborated with bronze makers and were allowed to attach the mounts to the furniture. During the eighteenth century in France, bronze makers were divided into two guilds: that of the fondeurs-ciseleurs, or casters and chasers, and the ciseleurs-doreurs, or chasers and gilders. Based on a two-dimensional design, a carver or sculptor would make a three-dimensional model in wood, clay, or wax. A wax mold taken from the model was used for casting by pressing it in a box of sand and pouring molten bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, in the resulting depression. For more complicated designs, the cire perdue, or lost-wax, process was used. In this technique, the wax model was fashioned around a core made of plaster or clay and covered with the same to form a mold. The mold was then dried and fired to burn out the wax. The hollow left by the wax was filled with molten bronze. The metal cooled and hardened, and any imperfections in the rough cast would be cleaned up, the so-called reparure. The actual finishing process would be done by the ciseleur, who would tool the bronzes with his instruments, creating burnished areas and a variety of finely or coarsely pounced or grained surfaces. The finishing process was of extreme importance because it would lend the object great vitality through the varying light reflections that the differently treated areas would create.
The last step would be the mercury gilding, which would add a substantial cost to the overall price. The bronze surface would be coated with a mixture of ground gold – hence the name or moulu – and mercury, then heated over an open fire. While the gold adhered to the base metal, the mercury would evaporate, creating dangerous fumes. The process was repeated several times until a thick enough layer of gold had been created that could be left matte or was burnished with a heliotrope stone. The survival rate of gilt bronze is good because, unlike silver, it has little melt value."
– extracts from the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York