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of many interiors today. A study of decorative bronzes and porcelains focused on probably the only eighteenth century artist who worked in both mediums would do much to help us understand, as well, the methods of manufacture that existed in a society that operated almost exclusively within the restrictions of the guild system at a time when the first effects of the Industrial Revolution were becoming apparent. Many of Duplessis' designs that were executed in bronze, for example, are the equivalent of what today would be called "multiples" and the same is true on a literally tremendous scale with regard to his designs for porcelain which in their executed version were mostly repetitions made by means of moulds on an assembly line basis.

According to contemporary accounts, Duplessis was highly regarded in the eighteenth century. Highly enough, in fact, to have been created orfèvre du roi in 1758. Unfortunately, he is virtually unknown today and the bulk of his work remains unrecognized. As a result of stylistic analogies I have made that are based in part on his known work and on drawings at Sèvres that bear his signature, I believe that there are an enormous number of objects, principally of bronze, that can be attributed to him which are presently labeled merely as "mid-eighteenth century French." Besides placing Duplessis in what I consider is his rightful position in the history of art, I think a systematic and convincing establishment of a large oeuvre by this artist would do much to advance serious study of the so-called minor arts.