(b Paris, 25 Aug 1678; d Paris, 23 Nov 1755). Bronze-caster, sculptor and designer, son of (1) Philippe Caffiéri (i). He was the nephew of Charles Le Brun and had two sons by his marriage to Marie-Anne Rousseau, (3) Philippe Caffiéri (ii) and (4) Jean-Jacques Caffiéri. Jacques became one of the most prominent bronzeworkers in the reign of Louis XV. A member of the Académie de Saint-Luc, Paris, he became a master bronze-caster and chaser in Paris before 1715 and, on an unknown earlier date, received the title of Sculpteur et Ciseleur Ordinaire des Bâtiments du Roi. It is probable that one of his teachers was Domenico Cucci, who was Ebéniste et Fondeur du Roi and with whom the Caffiéri family was closely linked. Jacques also received training in sculpture, as evidenced by his busts of Baron de Besenval (1735) and Baron de Brunstadt (1737). It was in the decorative arts, however, that he achieved his reputation.

Part of the Caffiéri family

• Caffiéri, Jacques
  • Caffiéri
  • France, §IX, 2(iii)(a): Base metalwork, 1600–1800: Gilt-bronze
  • France, §IX, 2(iii)(a): Base metalwork, 1600–1800: Gilt-bronze
  • attributions
    • Choiseul, Etienne-François
  • collaboration
    • Commode
  • groups and movements
    • Rococo, §II, 3: France: Genre pittoresque or rocaille, after c 1730
  • patrons and collectors
    • Bourbon, §I: (10) Louis XV, King of France
    • Rothschild
  • pupils
    • Caffiéri: (3) Philippe Caffiéri (ii)
    • Caffiéri: (4) Jean-Jacques Caffiéri
  • works
    • Acanthus, §2: c 1600 and after
    • Fireplace furnishings
    • France, §V, 4: Interior decoration, 1723–1815