François-Désiré Froment-Meurice
Encyclopedia
François-Désiré Froment-Meurice (31 December 1802 (Paris)— (Paris) 17 February 1855) was a French goldsmith
, working in a free and naturalistic manner in the tradition of Mannerist and Baroque masters. One version of his Coupe des Vendanges, the "Harvest Cup", made in 1844, is conserved at the Musée du Louvre.
Born in Paris to a goldsmith of moderate reputation, François Froment (1773–1803), he was soon left fatherless. His mother remarried another jeweller, Pierre Meurice. François-Désiré Froment, who took his stepfather's name, having graduated from the Lycée Charlemagne
was apprenticed as a ciseleur, or chaser, and developed his own renown. He took up the family workshop from 1832, with such success that he obtained two silver medals at the 1839 Exposition des produits de l'industrie— which gained him the appointment as orfèvre-joailler to the city of Paris— and a gold medal in the French Industrial Exposition of 1844
. From 1849, he exhibited successfully in London and thenceforth across Europe.
Established near the Hôtel de Ville de Paris in 1828, he removed to the quartier of the Madeleine after 1848; during the revolutions of that year
he served in the city's platoon of the Garde nationale. Under the Second Empire he maintained his showrooms at 50, rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Victor Hugo
wrote a poem celebrating the ciseleur 's art that commences:
.
In his appointment to the city of Paris he was responsible for the ceremonial cradle (berceau d’apparat) offered by Paris at the birth of the Prince Impérial Eugène-Louis Napoléon (1856), conserved at the Musée Carnavalet. In a semi-official commission, he produced a spectacular, fully equipped toilette for the duchess of Parma (1855–58), now at the Musée d'Orsay
; it was commissioned in 1845 by a subscription circulated among Legitimist ladies of France for the marriage of Louise-Thérèse de Bourbon, grand-daughter of Charles X, with the future duke Charles III of Parma. It was completed in time to be included in the Great Exhibition
, London, 1851. Among his private clients were writers and dandies
, like Honoré de Balzac
and the fastidious Théophile Gautier
. For Balzac Froment-Meurice executed a canne aux singes ("Monkey Tankard") designed by the sculptor Pierre-Jules Cavelier
, which Balzac presented to his brother-in-law Georges Mniszech; it bears the portrait of the comtesse Hanska. For the connoisseur-collector the duc de Luynes, he carried out a table of repoussé silver.
His son Émile Froment-Meurice (1837–1913), after some tentative beginnings, carried on the family atelier until 1913. At the Exposition Universelle (1867)
the Maison Froment-Meurice exhibited a monumental sculptural overmantel for the Hôtel de Ville, that was lost in the fire that consumed the building during the Paris Commune of 1870
. The "Paris Tiara
, a papal tiara
given to Pope Leo XIII
by the people of Paris in 1888 to commemorate his Golden Jubilee
as a priest, was designed and executed by the younger Froment-Meurice.
An exhibition, Les Froment-Meurice, Orfèvres romantiques parisiens, was presented by the Musée de la Vie romantique
, Paris, in 2003; the museum conserves Froment-Meurice's silver box made to contain the epaulettes of General Louis Eugène Cavaignac
.
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
, working in a free and naturalistic manner in the tradition of Mannerist and Baroque masters. One version of his Coupe des Vendanges, the "Harvest Cup", made in 1844, is conserved at the Musée du Louvre.
Born in Paris to a goldsmith of moderate reputation, François Froment (1773–1803), he was soon left fatherless. His mother remarried another jeweller, Pierre Meurice. François-Désiré Froment, who took his stepfather's name, having graduated from the Lycée Charlemagne
Lycée Charlemagne
The Lycée Charlemagne is located in the Marais quarter of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, the capital city of France.Constructed many centuries before it became a lycée, the building originally served as the home of the Order of the Jesuits...
was apprenticed as a ciseleur, or chaser, and developed his own renown. He took up the family workshop from 1832, with such success that he obtained two silver medals at the 1839 Exposition des produits de l'industrie— which gained him the appointment as orfèvre-joailler to the city of Paris— and a gold medal in the French Industrial Exposition of 1844
French Industrial Exposition of 1844
The French Industrial Exposition of 1844, held in a temporary structure on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, was one in a series of eleven French national industrial expositions held to encourage improvements in progressive agriculture and in technology, that had their origins in 1798...
. From 1849, he exhibited successfully in London and thenceforth across Europe.
Established near the Hôtel de Ville de Paris in 1828, he removed to the quartier of the Madeleine after 1848; during the revolutions of that year
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
he served in the city's platoon of the Garde nationale. Under the Second Empire he maintained his showrooms at 50, rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
wrote a poem celebrating the ciseleur 's art that commences:
Nous sommes frères : la fleurFroment-Meurice died at the peak of his fame before the opening of the Exposition Universelle of 1855
Par deux arts peut être faite.
Le poète est ciseleur ;
Le ciseleur est poëte.
Exposition Universelle (1855)
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
.
In his appointment to the city of Paris he was responsible for the ceremonial cradle (berceau d’apparat) offered by Paris at the birth of the Prince Impérial Eugène-Louis Napoléon (1856), conserved at the Musée Carnavalet. In a semi-official commission, he produced a spectacular, fully equipped toilette for the duchess of Parma (1855–58), now at the Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
; it was commissioned in 1845 by a subscription circulated among Legitimist ladies of France for the marriage of Louise-Thérèse de Bourbon, grand-daughter of Charles X, with the future duke Charles III of Parma. It was completed in time to be included in the Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
, London, 1851. Among his private clients were writers and dandies
Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...
, like Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
and the fastidious Théophile Gautier
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
. For Balzac Froment-Meurice executed a canne aux singes ("Monkey Tankard") designed by the sculptor Pierre-Jules Cavelier
Pierre-Jules Cavelier
Pierre-Jules Cavelier was a French academic sculptor.Son of a silversmith and furniture maker, student of the sculptors David d'Angers and the painter Paul Delaroche, Cavelier won the Prix de Rome in 1842 with a plaster statue of Diomedes Entering the Palladium...
, which Balzac presented to his brother-in-law Georges Mniszech; it bears the portrait of the comtesse Hanska. For the connoisseur-collector the duc de Luynes, he carried out a table of repoussé silver.
His son Émile Froment-Meurice (1837–1913), after some tentative beginnings, carried on the family atelier until 1913. At the Exposition Universelle (1867)
Exposition Universelle (1867)
The Exposition Universelle of 1867 was a World Exposition held in Paris, France, in 1867.-Conception:In 1864, Emperor Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867. A commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction...
the Maison Froment-Meurice exhibited a monumental sculptural overmantel for the Hôtel de Ville, that was lost in the fire that consumed the building during the Paris Commune of 1870
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
. The "Paris Tiara
Paris Tiara
The Paris Tiara is a papal tiara given to Pope Leo XIII by the people of Paris in 1888 to commemorate his Golden Jubilee as a priest.It was designed and manufactured by Émile Froment-Meurice....
, a papal tiara
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
given to Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
by the people of Paris in 1888 to commemorate his Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
as a priest, was designed and executed by the younger Froment-Meurice.
An exhibition, Les Froment-Meurice, Orfèvres romantiques parisiens, was presented by the Musée de la Vie romantique
Musée de la Vie Romantique
The Musée de la Vie romantique stands at the foot of Montmartre hill in the IXe arrondissement, 16 rue Chaptal, Paris, France in a 1830 hôtel particulier facing two twin-studios, a greenhouse, a small garden, and a paved courtyard. The museum is open daily except Monday. Permanent collections are...
, Paris, in 2003; the museum conserves Froment-Meurice's silver box made to contain the epaulettes of General Louis Eugène Cavaignac
Louis Eugène Cavaignac
Louis-Eugène-John-Jacob-Cavaignac , French general, second son of Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac and brother of Éléonore Louis Godefroi Cavaignac, was born at Paris.- Military career :...
.