2 Copper Printed Physionotrace 1795

Exceptional pair of physionotrace printing copperplates made between 1792 and 1798. 68 x 80 mm. They are marked: Dess. p. Fouquet gr. p. Christian inv. the physionotrace rue St. Honoré opposite the oratory n° 45 and 133 in Paris The physionotrace is a machine invented in 1784 or 1785 by Gilles-Louis Chrétien which made it possible to “mechanically” draw portraits in profile. These portraits were etched on a copper plate. The plate was then used to print one or more engravings called “physionotraces”. These portraits are almost always made in bust and in profile. Gilles-Louis Chrétien (1754-1811) was cellist at the King's Chapel in Versailles, engraver and portraitist. Jean-Baptiste Fouquet (1761-1799) was a French portrait painter and miniaturist. He replaced Edme Quenedey des Ricets with Gilles-Louis Chrétien from 1792 to 1798.