Design work by Luigi Valadier. Living from 1726 to 1785, he was Rome’s best known silversmith for quite a while. I don’t know if these designs were used in actual pieces. I just know that they are not the design sketches used for some of his actual pieces which are in a different blog post here.

Design for the Front of a Pronaos: This drawing depicts an extraordinary object (now lost) that was once part of the deser of the Bailli de Breteuil. The two columns must have been veneered with lapis lazuli, and the little pronaos, or vestibule, was decorated with a dragon-like creature on the attic and a Medusa head between the columns. ca. 1788. Roman/Italian. Pen, ink, and watercolor on paper. Workshop of Luigi Valadier (1726–1785). Collections of the Museo Napoleonico, Rome. Image © Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali — Museo Napoleonico but found on the Frick website because it was part of an exhibition there. https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/valadier/4_41

An Inkstand in Rococo Style. 1764. Roman/Italian. Pen and brown ink, with brown and red wash, over graphite, on paper. Luigi Valadier, artist/silverworker (1726–1785). Signed and dated at lower left, in pen and brown ink, Luigi Valadier Fecit Roma 1764.
Watermark: fleur-de-lis in shield, surmounted by crown, (Strasbourg lily). Collections of the Morgan Library and Museum. Image © Morgan Library and Museum. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/142939

Head of a Boar on a Servizio Borghese Oval Plate. ca. 1783. Roman/Italian. Pen, gray and black ink, gray brownish watercolor on pencil; brown sand and pink watercolor for the head of the boar. Atelier of Luigi Valadier
(Rome 1726-1785). https://www.carlovirgilio.it/en/opera/atelier-of-luigi-valadier-head-of-a-boar/

Design for a Gold and Silver Bishop’s Reliquary. Late 18th c, by 1785. Roman/Italian. Pen and black ink, brush with gray, yellow, red and blue wash, highlighted with white gouache over lead or graphite on cream laid paper; framing lines in pen and brown ink. Luigi Valadier (1726-1785). Letter watermark. Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Image © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Artwork in the public domain. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/340371

A few little somethings to buy in case your daughter changes her mind and wants that big wedding. Fun to have otherwise, too. Luigi Valadier, maker. Living from 1726 to 1785, he was Rome’s most sought after silversmith.

Luigi-Valadier-Table-centrepiece-18th-Century-Photo-c-Waddesdon-Image-Library-Mike-Fear — Table centerpiece. 18th c. Italian. Luigi Valadier, maker. Photo credit: Waddesdon Image Library/Mike Fear. Waddeson Manor Collection. Image © 2020 Apollo Magazine. Fair use license. via https://www.apollo-magazine.com/rothschild-treasury-waddesdon/

Pair of five-light candelabra — Pair of five-light candelabra, the porphyry drums with gilded bronze bucrania and swags with the shaft curving up in the form of a baluster to become a small bowl at the top, decorated with gilded lions’ heads and three Roman theatrical masks, from which sprout clusters of gilded bronze leaves. Three bronze female figures standing on the drum and encircling the baluster. 1774. Classical. Deep red porphyry and gilded bronze. Made for the suite of public rooms in the Palazzo Borghese in Rome, part of the redecoration for Prince Marcantonio. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In the public domain. via https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/208172

Bacchus20and20Adiadne — Bacchus and Adiadne rendered in marble and precious stones. 18th c. Marble and precious stones. Part of a 2018 exhibition at the Frick in New York. Photo credit: Courtesy of The Frick Collection. Image © 2020 Condé Nast. Fair use license. via https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/luigi-valadier-the-frick-an-18th-century-decorative-artist-deser-statues

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