| The reproduction of the binding shown above is found on Sotheby's online catalogue pages (click here to see it). This 1762 binding by Fetil has the same outer roulette as Fetil's signed binding, Barber has catalogued it as ROLL 3, I show these bindings on the INDEX page, bindings B, C, D have this common roulette that appears around 1762 to 1765. The Sotheby's reproduction has an excellent zoom and you can see the imprints very clearly, such as rf-3 shown below, this important Fetil imprint is like a signature that he used on many bindings and laying a key part in the dentelle design. This imprint can be a quick and easy way to identify a Fetil binding however you need to study the shape carefully. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, I show Dubuisson's example of this type of tool, perhaps he was the first person to use one, I am not sure that he did not use this tool earlier than 1757, also Delorme used a tool like this and perhaps Dubuisson's pd-3 as well, after he became Dubuisson's successor. Fetil's example is quite easy to recognize being crowned with a large ring. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, we see another critically important Fetil corner tool that he often used, this tool has a number of excentricities if you can get to see it enlarged. The upper part appears to not be sitting squarely on the base, and thus off center, while the stack of the uppermost 5 dots appears to be out of alignment with the body. These details are more obvious when the imprint is enlarged, at some later point Fetil added another tool that is sort of copy of DCT 16, I show it below in Comparative Diagram 4, in this case everything is properly aligned however the dots on top are stacked in an angular fashion, this is not Barber's DCT 15. |
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| Even experts are sometimes wrong, before you spend thousands on a book, please do your own research! Just because I say a certain binding can be attributed to le Maitre isn't any kind of guarantee, don't take my word for it, go a step further and get your own proof. In these pages I have provided you with a way of doing just that. |
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