Thomas Germain and Anne-Denise Gauchelet by Nicolas de Largillierre (1736)

Thomas Germain (1673–1748) was the pre-eminent

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

ian

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary grea ...

of 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, ...

. The son of a Paris silversmith Pierre Germain (none of whose work survives) he did not at first train in the family workshop, but began as a painter, spending the years 1687–1702 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he turned his hand towards goldsmith's work. Once again in Paris he received the status of ''maître''(master) in 1720 and was appointed an ''orfèvre du Roi''(or, per a literal translation, the title of the "King's Goldsmith"). Much of his output was to royal commissions, including a number of presentation swords given to the likes of Marshal Foch and Alain Porée, Captain of the Corsairs. His most spectacular surviving piece, a ''

surtout de table A surtout de table is an ornamental centrepiece displayed on a formal dining table, "a large centerpiece with mirrored plateaus and numerous candelabra and other possible display pieces on top". In French ''surtout de table'' is the usual term for ...

'' on a hunting theme, with dogs and horns and

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University o ...

, was begun in the years 1729–31 for the tax-farmer Samuel-Jacques Bernard but remained unsold at the time of Germain's death, when it was sold in 1757 to the

duke of Aveiro Duke of Aveiro ( pt, Duque de Aveiro) was a Portuguese title of nobility, granted in 1535 by King John III of Portugal to his 4th cousin, John of Lencastre, son of Infante George of Lencastre, a natural son of King John II of Portugal. Joh ...

, who took it to Portugal; it is conserved in the

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga The Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (; MNAA), also known in English as the National Museum of Ancient Art, is a Portuguese national art museum located in Lisbon. With over 40,000 items spanning a vast collection of painting, sculpture, goldware, fur ...

, Lisbon. Germain's covered

tureen A tureen is a serving dish for foods such as soups or stews, often shaped as a broad, deep, oval vessel with fixed handles and a low domed cover with a knob or handle. Over the centuries, tureens have appeared in many different forms: round, re ...

s were spectacular; the world's record auction price for a single piece of silver was achieved by a silver tureen by him, stamped for 1733, which was sold at Sotheby New York in November 1996 for US$10,287,500. He made a pair of tureens for

Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, KG (171123 September 1773) was an English nobleman and landowner, a member of the House of Lords. He was the only son of William Pierrepont, Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (1692–1713) and his ...

, to designs by

Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695 – 31 July 1750) was a French goldsmith, sculptor, painter, architect, and furniture designer. He was born in Turin, but became known as a worker in Paris, where he died. His Italian origin and training were ...

in 1735 that Henry Hawley has said "represents the apogee of the French

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, ...

" (Hawley 1997). Aside from the work for the French crown he had royal patrons in the queen of Spain, the king and queen of Naples, and the

king of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the ...

. Germain also did work as an architect, designing

Saint-Louis-du-Louvre Saint-Louis-du-Louvre, formerly Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre, was a medieval church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris located just west of the original Louvre Palace. It was founded as Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre in 1187 by Robert of Dreux as a Collegiat ...

, a reconstruction of the collapsed Saint-Thomas-du-Louvre. At his death, his atelier passed to his fourth son François-Thomas Germain (1726–91). Most of his work was destroyed during the financial crises that led to the French Revolution, when rococo objects lost their value; a great deal had also already been lost during the great

Lisbon earthquake of 1755 The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

References

*G. Bapst. ''Les Germains''. Paris, 1887. Still the classic monograph.

External links

(Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga) Large Surtout for the portuguese Duque de Aveiro(Getty Museum) Two pairs of tureens for portuguese families, 1726–29 and 1744Henry Hawley, "Meissonnier's Kingston Tureen"
''Magazine Antiques'' January 1997.
(Museum in Belém Palace - Lisbon) Inkstand for the royal portuguese familyMuseu Nacional de Arte Antiga Lisboa (Portuguese site)(Musée du Louvre) Inkstand for the portuguese Cardinal João Cosme da Cunha, a pair of wine coolers and saltcellars from the Penthièvre-Orléans service, and a pair of sugar casters for the Duke of Bourbon.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germain, Thomas 1673 births 1748 deaths French decorative artists French silversmiths Metalsmiths from Paris