Habit de Mallettier Coffrettier

Art Historical Context

This striking etching, created around 1690 by Nicolas de Larmessin II, belongs to the French artist’s celebrated series of “grotesque costumes.” Titled *Habit de Mallettier Coffrettier*, it portrays a trunk- and coffer-maker whose entire outfit is ingeniously assembled from the tools and products of his trade—wooden planks, nails, hinges, and chests forming a whimsical yet recognizable human figure. Rendered in crisp lines typical of etching, the print captures both the precision of the craftsman’s work and the playful imagination of late-seventeenth-century French graphic art. Larmessin’s se...