(JEAN) MICHEL III LE BOUTEUX (1648-1694): Ornament print

Etching manufactured (fait et gravé) Le Bouteux fils, ca. 1680-1700. Dimensions 19,3 x 29,8 cm. This etching was published ‘A Paris chez N. Langlois rue St Jacques a la Victoire avec Privilege du Roy’. Price € 50.

As an architect, designer and engraver (etcher), Michel le Bouteux was a descendant of a renowned family of gardeners from the seventeenth century. His father Michel II le Bouteux was the "fleuriste ordinaire" of Louis XIV and was the founder of the large-scale potting of flowers and plants. Michel II, who called himself Bouteux fils, fulfilled the function of 'contrôleur général des bâtiments du roi, dessinateur des plans et jardins du roi'. Among other things, Michel II has published an edition that has preserved the oeuvre of the renowned garden architect André le Nôtre (1613-1700) for posterity. Le Bouteux has made many images of landscapes and places from a bird's eye view. He worked closely with the Parisian publisher Nicolas Langlois (1640-1703). The beautiful ornament print from our collection shows stylized vegetable motifs mixed with heads of fable-like creatures, a theme that we know from Gothic ornamentation.

Good condition. Slight discoloration on the edges, outside the actual image.