20. Jacques Vauquer
(1621-1686)
Ornament Plate with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt

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Vauquer, Ornament Plate

Ornament Plate with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Engraving from Designs of Enameled Watch Cases, 1631-76, Fuhring 1841, 112 x 124 mm. Superb impression on thin laid paper with a complex but difficult to read watermark, lacking the borderline but complete and with the number 2 in the lower right corner. Early engravers of ornament were the most meticulous of craftsmen and it is difficult to see how one might have added enamel work to such detailed images. Nevertheless, it was accomplished and several examples of the finished watch cases have come down to us, quite staggeringly beautiful in their workmanship. But the initial engravings are also beautiful and stand on their own as precious, if miniaturized, works of art. That designs were passed from artist to artist and from country to country is even more the case with ornaments than with other prints, but Vauquer, who worked in France, probably Paris, was both creative designer and a superb craftsman and, while his designs were copied by others, his originals are clearly superior. Rare.

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