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 XVIIIth 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. Moreover, this is the first major study on Gouthière since 1920.

Charlotte Vignon is curator of Decorative Arts at The Frick Collection, New York. Christian Baulez is an historian of French 18th–century decorative arts and architecture and former chief curator at the Musée de Versailles. Anne Forray- Carlier is curator of 17th- and 18th-Century Decorative Arts at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Joseph Godla is chief conservator at the Frick Collection. Helen Jacobsen is chief curator at the Wallace Collection, London. Luisa Penalva is curator of Gold, Silver, and Jewelry Collections at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon. Anna Saratowicz-Dudyńska is curator of Silver and Bronze at the Royal Castle, Warsaw. Emmanuel Sarméo is an independent scholar.