Pierre Gouthière: Virtuoso Gilder at the French Court celebrates the life of Pierre Gouthière (1732-1813), considered to be one of the best Parisian bronze chasers and gilders of the eighteenth-century. Gouthière became gilder to Louis XV in 1767, and is credited with inventing a new type of gilding that left a matte finish?dorure au mat?one of the hallmarks of his work. Although incredibly successful in his day, Gouthière died in relative obscurity and poverty; unlike some of his contemporaries his works never regained popularity after the French Revolution.
The inclusion of detailed entries and plates of forty works positively attributed to Gouthière, five essays by leading experts which examine Gouthière’s life, career, clientele, and gilding techniques, as well as examples of his work from US, Russian, and British collections, ensure that this beautiful volume is an invaluable new resource on Gouthière. The only other volume on this master was published in 1920, and is now long out of print.
Charlotte Vignon is curator of Decorative Arts at The Frick Collection, New York.
Christian Baulez is chief curator, Furniture and Decorative Arts, Musée de Versailles.
Helen Jacobsen is senior curator and curator of Eighteenth-Century Decorative Arts at The Wallace Collection, London.
Joseph Godla is chief conservator at The Frick Collection.
Anne Forray-Carlier is chief curator, Department of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris.
Luisa Penalva is curator of the Gold, Silver and Jewelry Collections, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon.
