Tête de singe souriant
[Smiling monkey's head]
[Smiling monkey's head]
Tête d'un satyre souriant
[Smiling satyr's head]
[Smiling satyr's head]
Tête chevelue et barbue d'un vieillard souriant
[Shaggy, bearded head of a smiling old man]
[Shaggy, bearded head of a smiling old man]
Tête de singe à la moustache enrubannée
[Monkey's head with ribboned moustache]
[Monkey's head with ribboned moustache]
Tête d'un satyre aux sourcils levés
[Satyr's head with raised eyebrows]
[Satyr's head with raised eyebrows]
Tête d'un satyre aux cornes nouées
[Satyr's head with tied horns]
[Satyr's head with tied horns]
Masque feuillagé d'homme grimaçant
[grimacing masked man with foliage]
[grimacing masked man with foliage]
Tête de satyre à la guirlande
[Satyr with head garland]
[Satyr with head garland]
(click through for enlarged versions; some of the library stamps have been removed or attenuated)
This striking set of hirsute heads was produced in the second half of the 17th century by a French engraver named François Chauveau. It's as though he has travelled forward in time to select elements from Chewbacca / Planet of the Apes & Star Trek (Worf) to combine with the motif popularised during the Renaissance, the grotesque. So there's a certain charming naivety and abstraction to the works suggesting they may be early versions for a later, more sophisticated, suite of prints perhaps. We don't know the designer so it's hard to say.
Chauveau was a renowned engraver with royal pension and favour among his peers. A selection of more than a hundred and fifty of his prints, covering a wide variety of themes, is available from the Joconde portal, on behalf of a number of contributing French institutions.
Previously (that I can remember offhand) -
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