Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain (1719-1791) was among the most highly regarded fondeur-ciseleurs of his era. He was elected a maître fondeur en terre et en sable in 1748. He also enjoyed the privilege of an ouvrier libre, a status that enabled him to act both as an ébéniste and bronzier. Saint-Germain was particularly renowned for the extremely high level of chasing and modeling of his foliate decorated cases, and the impressive naturalism displayed in his work suggests close study of the natural world. This may partly be explained by his collection of books and objects, which reveal a strong interests in the natural sciences, particularly botany and mineralogy (J.-D. Augarde, 'Jean-Joseph de Saint-Germain: Bronzier (1719-1791)', L'Estampille L'Objet d'Art, December, 1996, pp. 63-82). He frequently supplied cases cast with animal forms and allegorical figures to the leading clockmakers of Paris, including the le Roy workshops, Etienne Lenoir and Jean-Philippe Gosselin. From 1750-1755, Jean-Joseph shared an atelier with his father, Joseph, an ébéniste who specialized in the elaborate bases for musical clocks and the cases for barometers.