The sitter was one of 17 children of Jean Duvivier and he came from a family of engravers from Liege, now Belgium. In 1762 he was appointed official engraver to King Louis XV and, on the ascension of Louis XVI to the throne in 1774, he became Engraver-General (chief engraver) of the Paris Mint. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1764. Through his engravings of medals he commemorated the private and public events in the lives of Louis XV and Louis XVI and in all likelihood the medals depicted in the present portrait are among his key works. In his left hand he holds a wax impression taken from the steel mould on the block in front of him. In the other hand he is perfecting the mould with a graving tool and in front of him on the bench are further graving tools. It is possible that the one on which he is shown working is that known as the ‘Washington before Boston Commemorative Medal’. Commissioned by Congress, the medal was first struck in 1790 in gold and issued in bronze in 1800. The image of Washington on the obverse of the medal was based on moulds taken by the sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon from his original clay portrait bust of October 1785, which remains at Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.
We are indebted to David Cawte for his generous help with our research on the present portrait.