Biography

French designer, architect and goldsmith. He was apprenticed to his father Etienne Meissonnier, a sculptor and silversmith of some importance, before making his way to Paris, arriving in 1714. He worked there as a die-cutter and medallist, progressing through the ranks of the metalworkers' guild. He was variously described as a chaser, a designer and, in 1723, as a maker of watchcases; he worked for ten years at the royal furnishings factory of Gobelins, Paris.

In September 1724 Louis XV appointed him by brevet a master of the Corporation des Marchands-Orfèvres Joailliers. It would appear, however, that his main occupation was as a chaser. His mark, a crowned fleur-de-lis, J O M and two grains de remède, has been found on only one piece, a gold and lapis lazuli snuff-box (1728; private collection). In spite of this scarcity of signed pieces, it is reasonable to assume that he closely supervised the work that he contracted to other goldsmiths. In 1735 Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston (1711-73), commissioned a pair of silver tureens (Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza; Cleveland, OH, Museum of Art) that bear the marks of the silversmiths Henry Adnet (1683-1745) and Pierre-François Bonnestrenne (1685-after 1737/8) and inscriptions that identify Meissonnier as the designer. Silver pieces with the mark of Claude Duvivier (1688-1747), made after designs by Meissonnier, show an extremely close relationship between the executed object and the engraved design.