MOSER, GEORG MICHAEL (Swiss). 1706-1783. Goldsmith, Chaser, and Enameller, Gem -engraver, and Medallist, born at Schaffhausen on 17. January, 1706. His father, Michael M., was a Coppersmith of some note. With him, young Moser learned drawing and chasing. At the age of 18 he went to Geneva and applied himself there to the goldsmith's art. After a year and a half he left for Paris and London, practically without means. In England, he was first employed by a cabinet-maker, named Trotter, as a chaser of brass ornaments for furniture. Becoming acquainted with the celebrated artist Hayd, under his patronage, he soon made himself a name. The fine enamelled snuff-boxes (enamelled by a process of his own invention), watch-cases in repoussé work, and other objects of decorative art attracted the notice of the wealthy amateurs, among them Lord Bute, and later also the King and the Prince of Wales. In 1729, the artist married the daughter of the painter Claude Gugnier of Grenoble, by whom he only had a daughter, Mary M., who became a flower painter of some note. Moser was drawing-master to George III. during his boyhood, and on the latter's accession in 1760 he was employed to engrave his first seals. Before that, he had engraved seals for George II. and medals of various institutions. For a fine watch-case, executed in commission for Queen Charlotte, adorned with whole length figures of her two eldest children, he received a " hatful of guineas ". His signature : G. M. MOSER F. 1774 occurs on a cameo, engraved after the cameo of Alexander, representing a Cupid playing familiarly with a lion, accompanied by a young Nymph, naked, and a Bacchante with a tambourine in her left hand ; also on several medals : MOSER F. on a large Portrait-medallion of George III., commemorating his Coronation, but undated; — Suppression of the Rebellion at Saint Vincent (illustrated), &c. “ When Hayd's Art School, afterwards known as the St. Martin's Lane Academy was established, about 1736, Moser became manager and treasurer, and continued in that position until the school was absorbed in the Royal Academy". King George III. presided at the official transformation in 1768. “ Moser ", says the writer of the artist's biography in Sydney Lee's National Dictionary of Biography, " was an original member, afterwards a director, of the Incorporated Society of Artists whose seal he designed and executed, and was one of the twenty-one directors, whose retirement, in 1767, led to the establishment of the Royal Academy, whose first President was Sir Joshua Reynolds, and the second, Moser himself. The artist had been elected first keeper, having rooms assigned to him in Somerset House ". “ He died at Somerset House, 24. January 1783, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. His funeral was attended by most of his fellow academicians and pupils ". " On the day after Moser's death, a notice of him from the pen of Sir Joshua Reynolds was published in which he was described as the cleverest gold chaser in the kingdom, possessed of a universal knowledge of all branches of painting and sculpture, and in every sense the father of the present race of artists ". Moser was in the receipt of a Royal pension of ? 100. Füsslin remarks : " Er ist nicht nur ein grosser Künstler, der auf einer gebahnten Strasse mit Leichtigkeit und sicherm Schritte eine hohe Stufe der Vollkommenheit erreicht ; er ist Erfinder und wusste das Schmelzmalen auf einen bisdahin unbekannten Grad der Vollkommenheit zu bringen ; auch verbesserte und berichtigte er vieles darinne, und seine Farben sind von besonderer Schönheit ". Bibliography. — F. M. O'D., Moser, Dict. Nat. Biog. — Chaffers, op. cit. — Betts, op. cit. — Bolzenthal, op. cit. — Dr Carl Brun, Moser, Schweiz. Künstler-Lexikon. — Füsslin, Best. Kstler IV, p. 129. — Füssli, K.-Lex. I, p. 443 ; II, p. 918. — Nagler, K.-Lex. IX, p. 515. — Gaz. des Beaux-Arts, XXV, p. 555, 539-541. — Müller, K. Lex. III, p. 131. — Seubert, K.-Lex. II, p. 605. — Singer, K. Lex. III, p. 254.
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
Source: Biographical dictionary of medallists; coin, gem, and seal-engravers, mint-masters, ancient and modern, with references to their works B.C. 500-A.D. 1900; compiled by L. Forrer, London 1904
MISSERONI
MISSERONI. A family of Gem-engravers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Girolamo and Gasparo Misseroni were contemporaries of Jacopo da Trezzo, and were called from Milan to Prague in the service of the emperor Rudolph II. Their descendants Ambrogio, Alessandro, Ottavio, Dionis, and Giulio all worked for the Imperial court, and, according to Nagler, produced very fine work. The family was originary of Milan. The name occurs in various forms : MISERON ; — MISSERONI ; MISURONNI, &c. Bibl...
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MISSERONI. A family of Gem-engravers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Girolamo and Gasparo Misseroni were contemporaries of Jacopo da Trezzo, and were called from Milan to Prague in the service of the emperor Rudolph II. Their descendants Ambrogio, Alessandro, Ottavio, Dionis, and Giulio all worked for the Imperial court, and, according to Nagler, produced very fine work. The family was originary of Milan. The name occurs in various forms : MISERON ; — MISSERONI ; MISURONNI, &c. Bibl...
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MITCHELL, F. N.
MITCHELL, F. N. (Amer.). Sculptor, and Medallist, of the middle years of the nineteenth century; worked at Boston. By him are the following medals : General Dr Joseph Warren, of Boston (4 var.) ; — United States Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Va (or Portsmouth Yellow Fever medal); — Medal of the United States Agricultural Society, 1852; — Medal of the Maine Agricultural Society ;— Medal of the Sandwich Islands Agricultural Society ; — Medal of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association; — ...
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MITCHELL, F. N. (Amer.). Sculptor, and Medallist, of the middle years of the nineteenth century; worked at Boston. By him are the following medals : General Dr Joseph Warren, of Boston (4 var.) ; — United States Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Va (or Portsmouth Yellow Fever medal); — Medal of the United States Agricultural Society, 1852; — Medal of the Maine Agricultural Society ;— Medal of the Sandwich Islands Agricultural Society ; — Medal of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association; — ...
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MITTERMAYER, MATTHIAS VON WAFFENBERG
MITTERMAYER, MATTHIAS VON WAFFENBERG (Austr.). Mintmaster at Vienna, circ. 1679-1705 (?); died. 22. December 1708. His initials occur on the coins issued by him, which were all engraved by the Mint-engraver, Johann Michael Hoffmann. Among these are the two commemorative Thalers of the Siege of Vienna, 1683, Double Ducat of 1682, Ducats of 1683-84, Quarter Ducat, 1694, Thalers and Sechsers, &c. A Thaler of Prince Ferdinand Wilhelm Euseb of Schwarzenberg, and consort Maria Anna, 1696, of which se...
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MITTERMAYER, MATTHIAS VON WAFFENBERG (Austr.). Mintmaster at Vienna, circ. 1679-1705 (?); died. 22. December 1708. His initials occur on the coins issued by him, which were all engraved by the Mint-engraver, Johann Michael Hoffmann. Among these are the two commemorative Thalers of the Siege of Vienna, 1683, Double Ducat of 1682, Ducats of 1683-84, Quarter Ducat, 1694, Thalers and Sechsers, &c. A Thaler of Prince Ferdinand Wilhelm Euseb of Schwarzenberg, and consort Maria Anna, 1696, of which se...
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MNESARCHOS
MNESARCHOS (Greek). Son of Euphron or Euthyphron, and named as the father of Pythagoras. He is said to have been an Engraver of rings. According to some accounts, he was not of purely Greek origin, and may have belonged to the Tyrrhenians of Lemnos and Imbros. He died at the beginning of the tyranny of Polycrates, towards the middle of the sixth century B.C. (Diog. Laërt., VIII, 1). He cultivated the art of gem-engraving more for glory than for gain. Bibliography. — Babelon, op. cit. — King, op....
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MNESARCHOS (Greek). Son of Euphron or Euthyphron, and named as the father of Pythagoras. He is said to have been an Engraver of rings. According to some accounts, he was not of purely Greek origin, and may have belonged to the Tyrrhenians of Lemnos and Imbros. He died at the beginning of the tyranny of Polycrates, towards the middle of the sixth century B.C. (Diog. Laërt., VIII, 1). He cultivated the art of gem-engraving more for glory than for gain. Bibliography. — Babelon, op. cit. — King, op....
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