Vaas met ramskoppen 1673

This print of a bronze vase was made by Jean Lepautre, a French designer active in the seventeenth century. Lepautre was above all an ornamentiste, someone who made images to inspire makers of luxury goods. He gives us a glimpse into the world of high-style metalworking in the age of Louis XIV, when France became the epicentre of fashion. The vase is decorated with rams' heads, a sun face, and other classical motifs. Lepautre would have been extremely precise in his mark-making, describing the textures and patinas associated with bronze. Prints such as this fueled a massive expansion of decorative arts. Itinerant artisans would travel across Europe, guided by these images, hoping to meet consumer demand. Ornament prints helped to distribute taste, becoming a key mechanism in the history of design. By appreciating the making of objects like this, we can better understand the economic and social transformations of the early modern world.