Pierre-Philipe THOMIRE
(1751 - 1843 )
Reçu Maître en 1772
Pierre-Pilippe Thomire, Fondeur et Ciseleur, est le plus important Bronzier du dernier quart du XVIIIe siècle et du premier quart du siècle suivant.
Bien qu'ayant suivi une formation de sculpteur (il étudia cette discipline dans les ateliers de Jean-Antoine Houdon et d'Augustin Pajou), il choisit de poursuivre l'activité plus lucrative de son père, qui était Maître Ciseleur à Paris.
A ses débuts, il travaille pour Pierre Gouthière, "Ciseleur-Fondeur du Roi", puis collabore, dès le milieu des années 1770, avec Louis Prieur, avant de s'installer dans son propre atelier, où il réalise des montures de bronze pour de célèbres ébénistes, notamment Beneman.
Le grand changement pour Thomire intervient lorsqu'il devient l'assistant de Jean-Claude-Thomas Duplessis, qui occupe le poste de directeur artistique de la Manufacture de porcelaine de Sèvres. A la mort de ce dernier, en 1783, il lui succède, fournissant ainsi toutes les montures en bronze doré pour les porcelaines de la Manufacture. Cette fonction lui permettra de traverser la Révolution sans trop d'encombres, alors que d'autres seront nombreux à faire faillite.
En 1804, il rachète le fonds de commerce de Martin-Eloi Lignereux et s'associe avec Duterme, ce qui lui permet de vendre du mobilier, de la porcelaine de Sèvres et des objets décoratifs produits dans son propre atelier.
En 1809, Napoléon le nomme "Ciseleur de l'Empereur" et deux ans plus tard, en raison du grand nombre de pièces fournies pour le Palais, il devient "Fournisseur de Leurs Majestés".
Thomire réussit à survivre à la chute de Napoléon, gagnant de nombreuses médailles lors d'expositions.
Il prend finalement sa retraite, en 1823, à l'âge de 72 ans, mais continue de travailler en tant que sculpteur et de participer au Salon jusqu'à l'âge de 80 ans.
Pierre-Philippe THOMIRE
( 1751 - 1843 )
Master received in 1772
Along with his master, Pierre Gouthière, Thomire was the most celebrated bronzier during the reign of Louis XVI. He was the son of a ciseleur but also received training under the sculptors Augustin Pajou (1730-1809) and Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) and he cast bronze portrait busts for both. The former was also a pupil et the Académie de Saint-Luc. He was already working for the Royal family by 1775 and collaborated with Jean-Louis Prieur, ciseleur et doreur du Roi, on the bronze mounts for the coronation coach of Louis XVI. He set up his own atelier the following year and in 1783, Thomire was appointed as the modeller to the Manufacture de Sèvres, succeeding Jean-Claude Duplessis. He cast and chased bronzes the following year, which were designed by the sculptor L-S Boizot, for a monumental vase in dark blue porcelain intended for the Musée Central des Arts, which is now in the Louvre. He was still working for Sèvres during the Napoleonic period.
In the accounts of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, his name appears frequently from 1784 as a maker of furniture mounts. He also collaborated in particular with Beneman on some pieces made for the Crown, aswell as Boulard and others, on a large screen made for Louis XVI's bedchamber at Compiègne in 1786 (now in the Louvre). He was also well known for bronzes d'ameublement such as the two sets of chenets for Marie-Antoinette's apartments at Versailles in 1786 (now in the Louvre) and the set of wall lights for Compiègne in 1787 (four are now in the Wallace Collection, London, and two at Waddesdon Manor).
Additionally he made chimney mounts for Thierry de Ville d'Avray, the contrôleur-général des Meubles de la Couronne. He also undertook other commissions for example, he executed for the City of Paris in 1785, a set of monumental candelabra for presentation to General Lafayette to celebrate the Declaration of Independence. His other patrons included the Comte d'Artois, for furnishings for the château de Bagatelle.
During the Revolution, his atelier was used for the production of arms, but in 1804 he reverted to his former profession when he acquired the premises and business of the marchand-mercier Eloy Lignereux, the former partner and successor to Dominique Daguerre. His business flourished during the Empire period, and was renamed Thomire, Dutherme et Cie and in 1807, he is recorded as employing at least seven hundred workers. He enjoyed prestigious commissions from both the City of Paris and the Emperor including an important toilet service for presentation to Empress Marie-Louise on the occasion of her marriage and also the celebrated cradle for the King of Rome. He retired from business in 1823, and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 1834 and died in his 92nd year.
His style is more purely neo-classical than Gouthière's and he used motifs such as Victories, sphinxes and neo-classical incense burners quite early in his career. When he made mounts for the monumental Sèvres vase in 1783, he was already using the anthemion motif. During the Louis XVI period, he appears to have sometimes cast the works himself but at other times used fondeurs such as Forestier who also worked after models he provided. He is also recorded as gilding his own bronzes and sometimes employing others to do so, such as the fondeur-ciseleur Chaudron.
His work pre-revolution is to be found in all the major collections including the Louvre, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Compiègne, the Pitti Palace, Florence, the Wallace collection and Waddesdon Manor.
