Jean Bérain the Elder

Jean Berain the Elder (Saint-Mihiel, Meuse, 1640 – 24 January 1711, Paris) was a draughtsman and designer, painter and engraver of ornament, the artistic force in the Royal office of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi where all the designs originated for court spectacle, from fêtes to funerals, and many designs for furnishings not covered by the Bâtiments du Roi. The "Berainesque" style of light arabesques and playful grotesques was an essential element in the style Régence that led to the French rococo.

Born in the Austrian Netherlands, the son of a master gunsmith, in whose line of work engraving was a prominent technique, he spent his career at Paris. Long after his death the connoisseur Pierre-Jean Mariette wrote of him, "Nothing was done, in whatever genre that it might have been, unless it were in his manner, or where he had given designs for it." Through his engravings and those of his son, his style was highly influential beyond the court and Paris, notably in the Low Countries, Germany and London. His close friendship with Nicodemus Tessin the Younger ensured that Berain's own nuance in the Louis XIV style was transmitted to court circles in Sweden.

Berain was established in Paris by 1663. On 28 December 1674 he was appointed dessinateur de la Chambre et du cabinet du Roi (designer of the king's chamber and office) in the Menus-Plaisirs (a post he retained until his death), in succession to Henri de Gissey, whose pupil he is believed to have been. From 1677 onward he had workrooms and an apartment in the Galeries du Louvre near to those of André Charles Boulle, for whom he made many designs for furniture. After the death of Charles Le Brun Berain was commissioned to compose and supervise the whole of the exterior decoration of the king's ships. His first designs for royal interiors date from the years 1682–84.

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