|
Meissonnier was an ornamental decorator who produced almost everything: "plans of houses and salons, church facades and altars, centrepieces, fireworks, salt cellars and sword hilts, designs for wood carving, wind dials, silver objects and even a painted ceiling."
The designs for centrepieces (one of the is illustrated by this engraving executed by Gabriel Huquier) that Messonnier supplied to goldsmiths displayed a convoluted verve suited to the flourishes of metalwork.
This etching by Gabriel Huquier comes from a volume of plates after Meissonnier's work. The plates are, for the most part, the only record of Meissonnier's varied works in painting, sculpture, metalwork, and architecture.
|
