The maker of these exceptional pieces, Jean-Jossé Caron l’Ainé (Caron the Elder), left behind an 1835 album (in which drawings of these specific works are featured) now conserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The collection of original drawings from the period, rivaled perhaps only by the Bellangé Album, also conserved in the Met, is one of the few of its kind and regarded as a jewel of decorative arts history.

This eccentric and hyper-refined style, with impossibly fine inlays, lies at the start of the Gothic Revival movement in France. Caron the Elder’s own words in his preface attest to his satisfaction with both the innovative style and the uncanny precision of his work.

Although these pieces were made with the help of proto-industrial tools and techniques, the work was essentially done by hand, and Caron the Elder celebrates what was thus an unprecedented accomplishment in refinement. After centuries of evolving tools and techniques in furniture making tradition, the struggle to render order out of the materials of nature, they finally achieve a level of precision which is considered standard today.

Translation from original French:

“The art of furniture making today has reached a high degree of refinement…but one mustn’t however believe that this art didn’t previously shine brilliantly before our era of perfection. Furniture making, during the middle ages was remarkable through it’s beauty and complexity of its forms, but on must admit, the execution of the work was far from achieving the degree of perfection that we reach today, even with ordinary pieces.”

Translation from original French of Caron the Elder’s remarks on his gothic style:

“Our manual has other merit which we shouldn’t neglect: many people continue to procure pieces in the simple and pure taste (neoclassical taste) which is still the dominant one today, but others prefer furniture in the gothic genre.  One must say, the number of the latter folks is growing to such a proportion that gothic has become one of the principal branches of the luxury furniture market.”

Today this Charles X “cathedral” style remains one of the most refined and perhaps the rarest micro-style in the French Decorative Arts. It is certainly the highpoint and emblematic of the romantic period, appearing now as if torn from the pages of C.S. Lewis or Tolkien. This extraordinary suite is all the more exceptional for still being together, and for its close correspondence to the drawn examples in Caron l’Ainé’s album.

Commode: H: 38 inches. W: 51 inches. D: 23 inches.

Armoire: H: 84.5 inches. W: 42 inches. D: 17.5 inches.

Alcove Bed: H: 44 inches. W: 78 inches. D: 55.5 inches.

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