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Adam Weisweiler (c.1750 — after 1810) was a pre-eminent
Adam Weisweiler (German-born French Furniture Artist, 1744-1820)
at ARTCYCLOPEDIA {{DEFAULTSORT:Weisweiler, Adam 18th-century French people 19th-century French people 1744 births 1820 deaths French furniture makers French furniture designers
Adam Weisweiler (c.1750 — after 1810) was a pre-eminent French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
master cabinetmaker
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...
(''ébéniste
''Ébéniste'' () is a loanword (from French) for a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony.
Etymology and ambiguities
As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker in French. The English equiva ...
'') in the Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
period, working in Paris.
Weisweiler is said to have been born at Neuwied-am-Rhein and to have received his early training in David Roentgen
David Roentgen (1743 in HerrnhaagFebruary 12, 1807), was a famous German cabinetmaker of the eighteenth century, famed throughout Europe for his marquetry and his secret drawers and poes and mechanical fittings. His work embraces the late Rococo ...
's workshop. He was in Paris before 1777, when he married Barbe Conte, and was received ''maître'' 26 March 1778. Thus all pieces bearing his stamp post-date that event.
Weisweiler worked notably for the '' marchands-merciers'', who alone could supply him with the Japanese lacquer
is a Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in '' urushi-e'', prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddha statues to ''bento'' boxes for food.
The characteristic of Japanese lacquerware ...
panels that, combined with ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...
and refined gilt-bronze, characterise some of his finest work. Through Dominique Daguerre Dominique Daguerre was a Parisian ''marchand-mercier'' who was in partnership from 1772 with Simon-Philippe Poirier, an arbiter of taste and the inventor of furniture mounted with Sèvres porcelain plaques; Daguerre assumed Poirier's business at '' ...
he supplied the writing table of steel, lacquer and ebony and gilt-bronze for Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
at the château de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a château in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about west of Paris. On the site of the former palace is the state-owned Parc de Saint-Cloud.
The château was expand ...
in 1784. Through Daguerre again he provided furniture for the Prince Regent (later George IV) at Carlton House
Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James' ...
, London. Weisweiler specialised in small refined pieces, with fine lines, delicate legs with light interlaced stretchers, and gilt-bronze low-relief plaques and mounts, some provided to him by Pierre Gouthière Pierre Gouthière (1732–1813) was a French metal worker. He was born at Bar-sur-Aube and went to Paris at an early age as the pupil of Martin Cour.
During his brilliant career he executed a vast quantity of metal work of the utmost variety, ...
through Daguerre, often decorated with panels of Japanese lacquer and Sèvres porcelain
Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for it ...
plaques, even panels of pietra dura
''Pietra dura'' () or ''pietre dure'' () ( see below), called parchin kari or parchinkari ( fa, ) in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is c ...
. Pictorial marquetry
Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furn ...
is not found in his output. Alvar González-Palacios, in demonstrating that the Weisweiler lacquer suite consisting of a pair of drop-front secretary desks and a commode, from the Wrightsman collection now at the Metropolitan Museum, had been sold by Daguerre ''c''1790 for the king of Naples' cabinet at Caserta
Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...
, observes that it would be more accurate to say that they are in the manner of Daguerre rather than that they are typical of Weisweiler.
Unlike other luxury furniture makers of the Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for "ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
, Weisweiler weathered the Revolution. In 1810 he was supplying Queen Hortense
Hortense Eugénie Cécile Bonaparte (; , ; 10 April 1783 – 5 October 1837) was Queen consort of Kingdom of Holland, Holland. She was the stepdaughter of Emperor Napoléon I as the daughter of his first wife, Empress Joséphine, Joséphine de Be ...
and collaborating with Pierre-Philippe Thomire
Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751–1843) a French sculptor, was the most prominent ''bronzier'', or producer of ornamental patinated and gilt-bronze objects and furniture mounts of the First French Empire. His fashionable neoclassical and Empire ...
. After his retirement, his son Jean Weisweiler continued the workshop until 1844.
Mark
The letters "A.V." incised on the bottom tray of aLouis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
workbench are attributed to Weisweiler.
Collection
''Secrétaire'' :*Secrétaire, 1785-1820, V&A, UKSee also
*Louis XVI furniture
Louis XVI furniture is characterized by elegance and neoclassicism, a return to ancient Greek and Roman models. Much of it was designed and made for Queen Marie Antoinette for the new apartments she created in the Palace of Versailles, Palace ...
Notes
Further reading
* (see index: p. 127-128; illustration: p. 69)External links
Adam Weisweiler (German-born French Furniture Artist, 1744-1820)
at ARTCYCLOPEDIA {{DEFAULTSORT:Weisweiler, Adam 18th-century French people 19th-century French people 1744 births 1820 deaths French furniture makers French furniture designers