Émile-Séraphin Vernier (16 October 1852 – 9 September 1927) was a French sculptor, metal worker, engraver and medalist.
He was president of the ''
Société des artistes décorateurs'' from 1905 to 1910.
He later became an expert on antique jewelry in Egypt.
Life
Émile-Séraphin Vernier was born in Paris on 16 October 1852.
When he was aged 13 he was apprenticed to Poussielgue-Rusand, for whom he worked from 1865 to 1869.
He studied sculpture, metal engraving and metal chasing.
Vernier made jewelry for
Bapst & Falize (1877–87), Froment-Meurice (1882–85), Vever (1888–92), Sandoz and Fonsèque et Olive.
He was one of the first to apply the techniques of medal engraving to making jewelry.
Vernier was distinguished as a sculptor, and was commissioned to make numerous commemorative plaques.
His metal engravings also included allegorical subjects and architectural views.
Vernier first exhibited in Paris at the 1876 Salon.
The 1886 Salon gave him an honorable mention, and he received an honorable mention at the ''
Exposition Universelle (1889)
The of 1889 (), better known in English as the 1889 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 6 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fifth of ten major expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more t ...
''.
He was esteemed as a lecturer on the goldsmith's art.
Around the end of 1888 Vernier began to devote himself to making medals, which were used in brooches and pendants.
In 1896–97 the French government gave him a special mission to Cairo to study the work of the antique Egyptian goldsmiths and jewelers.
For his memoir on this subject the ''
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres).
History ...
'' gave him the prix Delalande-Guerineau.
Vernier received a bronze medal at the ''
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...
''.
Vernier was made a Chevalier of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
in 1903 and an officer in 1911.
He was a Member of the Council of the ''
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts
Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA; ; ) was the term under which two groups of French artists united, the first for some exhibitions in the early 1860s, the second since 1890 for annual exhibitions.
1862
Established in 1862 by the painter a ...
''.
In 1905 he was elected president of the ''Société des artistes décorateurs'' for a five-year term.
Vernier joined the ''
Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale
An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes c ...
'' in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
as a jewelry expert.
In his catalog of jewelry and plates (''Bijoux Et Orfèvreries'') in the
Cairo Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world. It houses over 120, ...
, published in 1907–27, he described the way in which the gold objects in the museum had been made.
This included descriptions of
pre-dynastic objects found at
Hierakonpolis
Nekhen (, ), also known as Hierakonpolis (; , meaning City of Hawks or City of Falcons, a reference to Horus; ) was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt ( 3200–3100 BC) and probably also during th ...
, some of which had disintegrated when being cleaned.
Émile Vernier died in Paris on 9 September 1927.
His work is held in many museums in Europe and North America.
Publications
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernier, Emile Seraphin
1852 births
1927 deaths
French engravers
19th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors
20th-century French sculptors
French medallists
Sculptors from Paris
Officers of the Legion of Honour
20th-century French printmakers
19th-century French male artists