Ornament Designs Invented by J. Berain

1711 or after
Not on view
These designs by the architect and designer Jean Berain show the delightful, lighthearted, whimsical, and strictly symmetrical decoration known as grotesques. Berain's work was very influential and was adopted for the decoration of Boulle marquetry, tapestries, and other textiles, as well as faience. Berain, who was named chief designer to the French court in 1690, was given lodgings in the Louvre near those of his son-in-law, the clockmaker Jacques Thuret, and the cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ornament Designs Invented by J. Berain
  • Artist and publisher: Jean Berain (French, Saint-Mihiel 1640–1711 Paris)
  • Dedicatee: Jules Hardouin Mansart (French, Paris 1646–1708 Marly)
  • Engraver: Gérard Jean-Baptiste Scotin (French, Paris 1698–after 1755)
  • Engraver: Pierre Giffart (French, about 1637–1723)
  • Engraver: Juan Dolivar (Spanish, Zaragoza 1641–1692 Paris)
  • Engraver: M. Daigremont (French, active ca.1670–1700)
  • Engraver: Jean Le Pautre (French, Paris 1618–1682 Paris)
  • Engraver: Daniel Marot the Elder (French, Paris 1661–1752 The Hague)
  • Engraver: Jean Mariette (French, Saint Benoît 1660–1742 Paris)
  • Engraver: François Chauveau (French, Paris 1613–1676 Paris)
  • Engraver: François Le Moyne (French, Paris 1688–1737 Paris)
  • Engraver: Portrait of J. Berain engraved by Claude Duflos (French, Coucy-le-Château 1665–1727 Paris)
  • Artist: Portrait of J. Berain designed by Joseph Vivien (French, Lyon before 1657–1734 Bonn)
  • Publisher: Jacques III Thuret (1669–1738)
  • Date: 1711 or after
  • Medium: Engraving
  • Dimensions: Overall: 20 5/16 x 16 x 1 3/4 in. (51.6 x 40.6 x 4.5 cm)
  • Classifications: Books, Prints, Ornament & Architecture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers Fund, 1915, transferred from the Library
  • Object Number: 21.36.141
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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