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Jacques Caffieri

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1739 commode byAntoine Gaudreauwith gilt-bronze mounts by Caffieri. Made for Louis XV's bedchamber at Versailles, now in theWallace Collection
Wall clock case by Caffieri, circa 1745–49, from theMetropolitan Museum of Artcollection
Pair of 1752 gilt-bronzeandironsby Caffieri, in theCleveland Museum of Art

Jacques Caffieri(25 August 1678,Paris– 25 November 1755, Paris) was a French sculptor, working for the most part in bronze.

Life

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Jacques Caffiéri was the fifth son ofPhilippe Caffieri (1634-1716),the founder of this family of artists. Jacques was received amaître fondeur-ciseleurby 1715, the date of his first known work, a design for a pall for theCorporation des Fondeurs-Ciseleurs,one of two Parisianguildsthat oversaw works cast in metal, from full-scale sculptures to gilt-bronze furniture mounts, wall-lights and candlesticks. Asfondeurs-ciseleurs,"casters and finishers", the renown of theCaffieri familyhas centred on Jacques, though later it is not easy to distinguish between Jacques' work and that of Jacques' son, the younger Philippe (1714–1777).

Caffieri was attached asfondeur-ciseleurto theBâtiments du Roiin 1736. A large proportion of his brilliant achievement as a designer and chaser inbronzeand other metals was executed for the crown atVersailles,Fontainebleau,Marly,Compiègne,Choisyand theChâteau de La Muette,and the crown, ever in his debt, still owed him money at his death. Philippe and his son Jacques undoubtedly worked together in the Appartement du Dauphin at Versailles, and although much of their contribution has disappeared, the gilt-bronze decorations of the marble chimney-piece still remain. They belong to the best of full-blownRococostyle; vigorous and graceful in design, they are executed with splendid skill.

After the elder Philippe's death in 1716, Jacques continued to work for the crown, but had many private clients. From the Caffieri workshop in rue des Canettes came an amazing amount of work, chiefly in the shape of those gilt-bronze furniture mounts which adorned furniture by the bestébénistesof Paris. Little of his achievement was ordinary; an astonishingly large proportion of it is famous. In theWallace Collection,London,[1]is the royalcommodedelivered byAntoine-Robert Gaudreau,ébéniste du Roi,in 1739 for Louis XV's bedchamber at Versailles: it is richly mounted with an integrated series of corner mounts,chutesandsabots,and the drawer-fronts and a single composition into which the handles are fully integrated. It must have been the result of close cooperation between Caffiéri and Gaudreau, who was responsible for the veneered carcase. In 1747 Caffiéri supplied gilt-bronze mounts for the marble chimneypiece in the Dauphin's bedroom at Versailles. Caffieri also produced gilt-bronze cases for clocks, both mantel clocks and thecartelclocks that combined clock and bracket in one unified design, to be mounted on a wall. A detailed inventory of the Caffieri workshop made in 1747 enables scholars to identify some unsigned clockcases from the workshop: a fully Rococo cartel clock with a movement by Julien Le Roy is at the Getty Museum: it is inscribedfait par Caffieryin acartouchebelow the dial.[2]

In 1740, Caffieri's wife purchased a royal privilege, which allowed the Caffieri workshop to gild bronze as well as cast it within the same workshop; ordinarily the processes were divided between two Parisiancorporations,jealous of their jurisdictions, thefondeurs-ciseleursand theciseleurs-doreurs.

His signature incised in gilt-bronze kept his name alive in the nineteenth century[3]and gained him an entry inEncyclopædia Britannica1911, though the extremeRococostyle of which he was a consummate master laid his work open to disapproving commentary.[4]Two monumental gilt-bronze chandeliers in theWallace Collection,London,[5]bear his signature; one of them was a wedding present from Louis XV toLouise-Elisabeth of Francein 1739; the other is signed and dated 1751. The famous astronomical clock made byC.-S. PassementandDauthiaufor Louis XV, 1749–1753, is housed in aRocococase signed by Caffieri. Another clock, with a movement by Balthasar Martinot in an extreme Rococo style gilt-bronze case, belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch, atBoughton House[6]A pair of fire-dogs signed and dated 1752 is in theCleveland Museum of Art[7]Two large gilt-bronze mirror-frames by Caffieri, to a design byAnge-Jacques Gabriel,were intended as a gift to theSultan of Turkey;the price was an astonishing 24,982livres.[8]

He made a great cross and six candlesticks for the high altar ofNotre-Dame de Paris,which disappeared in theFrench Revolution,but similar work forBayeux Cathedralstill exists. A wonderful enamelled toilet set which he executed for the Princess of Asturias has also disappeared.[4]

In 1737 and 1735 respectively, Jacques Caffieri cast the busts of Jean Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt (1671–1736) and of his late father, Jean Victor Pierre Joseph Besenval (1638–1713). The busts, at least one of which was part of the collection ofPierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt,according to Louis Abel de Bonafous, Abbé deFontenay(1737–1806), it was the bust that showed the baron's father, Jean Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt, and which the baron kept in his cabinet at theHôtel de Besenval,were both shown at the exhibitionL’Art Français sous Louis XIV et sous Louis XV,which was held in Paris in 1888.[9][10][11][12]

Sons

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Jacques Caffiéri was joined in the workshop by his son, the youngerPhilippe Caffiéri(1714–1774), who also was received as amaître fondeur-ciseleurand who sometimes signed his independent works, especially after the death of his father in 1755,P.CAFFIERI.The younger Philippe's style was gradually modified by the new taste forNeoclassicism.Like his father, he drew large sums from the crown, usually after giving many years credit, while many other years were needed by his heirs to get in the balance of the royal indebtedness.[4]

Philippe's younger brother,Jean-Jacques Caffieri(1725–1792), was a sculptor, appointedsculpteur du Roito Louis XV and later afforded lodgings in the Galeries du Louvre. He designed the finerampe d'escalierwhich still adorns thePalais Royal.He is better known for his portrait busts, in terracotta or marble: his bust ofMadame du Barryis at theHermitage Museum,St Petersburg. He made a name with his busts ofPierre CorneilleandJean Racinefor the foyer of theComédie Française.

Notes

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  1. ^F 86
  2. ^Wall Clock (Getty Museum)Archived2006-09-17 at theWayback Machine
  3. ^Gilt-bronze objects in Rococo style boldly signed CAFFIERI were made in the nineteenth century; "usually, however, they are not difficult to identify" F.J.B. Watson observed in 1966 (p564)
  4. ^abcOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Caffieri, Jacques".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 945.
  5. ^F 83, F 84.
  6. ^illustration
  7. ^Severance collection, 72 and 73.
  8. ^Watson 1966, II, p 564.
  9. ^Lady Emilia Dilke:French architects and sculptors of the XIIIth century,George Bell and sons, York Street, Covent Garden, London, 1900, pp. 116–117
  10. ^Lady Emilia Dilke:French furniture and decoration in the XIIIth century,George Bell and sons, York Street, Covent Garden, London, 1901, p. 132
  11. ^F. J. B. Watson (Sir Francis John Bagott Watson):The Wrightsman Collection,volumes I and II, Furniture, Gilt Bronze and Mounted Porcelain, Carpets, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, distributed by New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1966/68, p. 564
  12. ^Luc-Vincent Thiéry:Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris,tome II, chapitre 'Hôtel de M. le Baron de Besenval,' Libraire Hardouin & Gattey, Paris, 1787, p. 574

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toJacques Caffieri.
  • Francis J.B. Watson,The Wrightsman Collection(Metropolitan Museum of Art), 1966, vol. I, no. 217ab, vol. II pp 563f (biography of Jacques Caffiéri).
  • (Getty Museum) Jacques Caffiéri
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