Caffiéri Family

Caffiéri family, family of French sculptors and metalworkers known for their vigorous and original works in the Rococo style.

Caffiéri, Jacques: commode of Louis XV at Versailles, France

The first prominent member of the family in France was Filippo (or Philippe) Caffiéri (b. 1634, Rome [Italy]—d. September 7, 1716, Paris, France), an Italian-born sculptor in the service of Louis XIV. Filippo’s son Jacques Caffiéri (b. August 25, 1678, Paris—d. November 23, 1755, Paris), became a notable metalworker. He completed many works for the palace at Versailles and other royal residences from 1736 up to the time of his death. Both he and his son Philippe Caffiéri (b. February 19, 1714, Paris—d. October 8, 1774, Paris) were famous for their designs of chandeliers, chests, andirons, and ornamental mounts for various pieces of furniture. Jacques was a master of the Rococo style, which he redeemed from triviality by his vigorous and spontaneous handling of scroll motifs and other decorative elements. Important examples of his work are at Versailles and in the Wallace Collection, London. Jacques’s works bear the simple signature “Caffiéri,” even when they represent a collaboration with his son Philippe. After his father’s death, Philippe obtained many of the royal commissions formerly given to his father. Altar furniture made by him for Notre-Dame de Paris (1759) disappeared during the French Revolution, but an impressive cross and candlesticks made for the Bayeux Cathedral (1771) survive.

Philippe’s younger brother, Jean-Jacques Caffiéri (b. April 30, 1725, Paris—d. June 21, 1792, Paris), became the most famous sculptor of the family. Jean-Jacques trained under his father and won the Prix de Rome in 1748. He executed many portrait busts of famous men of the past for the Comédie-Française, the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, and other cultural institutions. But his most-interesting busts are those he sculpted from living models. Among such portraits of his contemporaries are Rameau (1761; now destroyed), Piron (1762), and Canon Pingre (1789). Those searchingly realistic and expressive character studies proved enormously popular and made Caffiéri for a time a rival to the famous sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon.