André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732) is famous for furniture with a marquetry of tortoiseshell and brass. Although he did not invent the technique, Boulle was its greatest practitioner and gave his name to the practice: boulle work.

André-Charles became a furniture maker to the King (ébeniste) before 1666, but in 1672 received a warrant signed by the Queen, giving him the added title of bronzier as well as ébeniste, and maintained both of these titles throughout his life. Maintaining two titles simultaneously infringed on the rules of the guilds in the early 18th century, yet his position at court shielded him from prosecution.

Boulle worked with fine inlay of brass, pewter, tortoiseshell, exotic woods, etc. He used the contrasting colours of these materials, which were at times intricately scrolled patterns of marquetry. The characteristic feature of his pieces are the panels of arabesques and figures.

They were made by tightly layering two wafers of equal thickness, one of tortoise shell and one of metal (usually brass). A sheet of paper marked with a pattern was placed on top, then the pattern was cut with a fretsaw through the sheets of tortoise shell and brass below. The cut-out pieces of brass then fitted perfectly into the spaces left in the tortoiseshell.

Much of Boulle's furniture was made in pairs, the piece with brass-in-tortoiseshell marquetry being known as premiere partie, and the other piece veneered with the negative of the cut-out tortoiseshell-in-brass being known as contre partie. Sometimes a mixture of both types was used in the same piece. Brass patterns were usually engraved with, for example, tendrils or shading to produce a three-dimensional effect, and the tortoiseshell was often coloured, usually red or blue, by placing painted paper or foil beneath it on the carcass of the furniture. Ebony veneers were often used for striking contrast with the tortoiseshell and metal inlay.