Gustave Serrurier-Bovy’s Vitrine
This piece is a Belgian early Art Nouveau style cabinet– or vitrine– created by Gustave Serrurier-Bovy in 1899. The work is carved from red narra wood, and features ash wood inlay, copper metalwork, and green enamel marquetry. The cabinet is roughly seven feet tall and 4 feet wide. The piece was likely originally designed to display the owner’s ceramics, fine art, jewelry, and other objects of value. The work is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Like the items it was designed to display, this cabinet is an intricately crafted work of art. Upon first gaze at the cabinet, you are struck with the feeling that the piece has sprouted from the ground, its tendrils growing from the dirt into a work of art that is both grounded in place and swirling in emotion. The wood of a red narra tree has been carved into a sinuous shape, like a curving vine, growing up the cabinet’s form. The feet of the cabinet are small and linear, with a curving line of wood connecting the central feet to the outer legs. The cabinet’s features are symmetrical, the central element being two drawers supported by a drop-down cabinet below, topped with a small writing desk or surface for displaying objects. The plane at the back of the central element is a tall recessed panel of ash wood veneer stretching from the writing surface to the underside of the cabinet’s crown. Decorating the panel is copper marquetry, framing the space with long, interlocking, playful whiplash lines.
Flanking either side of this central element is mirroring cabinetry, composed of an enclosed cabinet at the base, an open shelf in the middle, and glass display encasement at the top. The piece has a swooping crown which peaks at the center in an arc, framing the recessed panel at the back. Exposed strapwork of copper and green enamel echo the swirling smoke-like motifs present in the woodwork and marquetry, going beyond their mechanical purpose to add an elevated level of ornament to the surface of the piece. The use of copper and green enamel is also present in the handles at the front of the central double drawers, enveloping the entire surface of the drawer front like roots grounding outwards. Swooping forms and whiplash lines define the piece, reinforcing the feeling that it is a natural object. Something that is and always was.
When I first saw this vitrine at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I was immediately drawn to it. With not even five minutes until the museum closed, I spent the entire time standing there staring, only breaking eye contact to take two moderately blurry photographs, and to look over my shoulder for the museum security who was moments away from kicking us out of the place. I have always felt a certain kinship with works from the Art Nouveau period. I love the way that the whimsical and playful qualities are laced with a sort of creepy, unruly undertone. I love how certain pieces feel like tendrils of smoke, a spider’s web, interlacing vines, even the bones of an animal. I love how every element of life, from birth to decay, is reflected in the designs of the Art Nouveau. The hallmark motifs of whiplash lines, natural forms, and the balance of the linear and the sinuous breathe life into the works, and Serrurier-Bovy’s vitrine exemplifies these qualities in an approachable way. It is an example of how thoughtful design can add beauty and emotion to our lived experience. As designers we have the opportunity to create the gesamtkunstwerk– total work of art– in everyday spaces, and as historians we have the opportunity to bring the emotions invoked by pieces from the past to audiences of today.
