Louis XIV Rectangular Carved Bois de Sainte-Lucie (Cherrywood) Box, Late 17th Century

The carvers of Nancy in the independent Duchy of Lorraine (Eastern France) subsequently made a great success of these carved versions made from fruitwoods including pear and very fine-grained cherrywood known as bois de Sainte-Lucie. Both the forms and the decoration were based on contemporary silverware. The trade continued until the 19th Century. Nancy craftsmen transposed the designs of Jean Le Pautre and Jean Bérain, originally intended for silver, and carved the entire surface of these objects in low relief.