Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695 – 31 July 1750) was a French

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, painter,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and

furniture designer This is a list of notable people whose primary occupation is furniture design. A * Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) * Eero Aarnio (born 1932) * Robert Adam (1728-1792) * Thomas Affleck (1745-1795) * Franco Albini (1905-1977) * Davis Allen (1916-199 ...

. He was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, but became known as a worker in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he died. His Italian origin and training were probably responsible for the extravagance of his decorative style. He shared, and perhaps distanced, the meretricious triumphs of Oppenord and Germain, since he dealt with the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

in its most daring and flamboyant developments. Rarely does he leave a foot or two of undecorated space; Meissonier carried the style of his day to its extreme and thus achieved great popularity. Like the Scottish brothers Adam at a later day he not only as architect built houses, but as painter and decorator covered their internal walls; he designed the furniture and the candlesticks, the silver and the decanters for the table; he was as ready to produce a snuff-box as a watch case or a sword hilt. Not only in France, but for the nobility of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and other countries who took their fashions and their taste from Paris, he made designs. His work in gold and silver-plate was often graceful and sometimes bold and original. His furniture features strong

rocaille Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...

elements. He was appointed by

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

''Dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du roi''; the post of designer ''pour les pompes funèbres et galantes'' was also held along with that of ''Orfèvre du roi''. For our knowledge of his work we are considerably indebted to his own books of design: ''Livres d'ornements en trente pièces'' and ''Ornements de la carte chronologique''. His works are held in the collection of the

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian Ins ...

.Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier , People , Collection of Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissonier, Juste 18th-century French sculptors French male sculptors 18th-century French painters French male painters 18th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Artists from Turin French furniture designers French goldsmiths 1695 births 1750 deaths 18th-century French male artists 18th-century Italian male artists