Acclaimed 19th-century French metalsmith Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot was born for the part, having inherited the workshop his family had established in 1690. While his completed pieces are well-documented, a new exhibition will showcase nearly 200 preparatory drawings and more than 30 models produced by him and other artisans in his studio as intermediary steps that helped them arrive at the final designs. Revealing Odiot’s painstaking attention to detail, each item that will be on display sheds light on the object that it would become.

Below: The drawing of the “Snake Handles” dish is attributed to Odiot’s draughtsman Auguste Garneray (circa 1810).
(Photo: Courtesy Les Arts Décoratifs)