Mon Sep 24, 2018 07:25 AM

Morning Modelbuch (9/24/2018)

I found this amazing set of designs for jewelry by Daniel Mignot dated 1593 in a good half dozen museums and had to know more. Were they commissions? Did the jewels exist somewhere? Conveniently, the Cooper Hewitt answered my initial questions regarding why there were 100 or so designs.

The answer is that Mignot was a French Huegenot living in Augsburg, Germany. As such, he was not allowed to do work as a goldsmith. In order to work, he published a set of very popular jewelry designs. They were so popular that they were republished in 1616 by Jan Theodor de Bry and were heavily distributed.

The National Gallery in Washington has about 70 images, the V and A has quite a few, and the Cooper Hewitt has at least 3 on their page. I think I’m going to keep searching for a full compilation, but in the meantime, have a look at some of the pretty.

http://m.vam.ac.uk/collections/item/O664818/engraving-mignot-daniel/

https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18690967/