Recueil de planches, sur les sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts méchaniques, avec leur explication (Book of plates on the Sciences, Liberal Arts, and Mechanical arts, with Explanations)
Paris, 1763, 3e volume de planches Coutelier. Planche I
This illustration, the first of two plates devoted to the cutler’s art, presents an idealised vision of the trade. It brings together two separate spaces and activities: the workshop where the cutler and his assistant practise their craft, and the shop where the cutler’s wife sells their products. The cutler lies stretched out over a plank in the foreground, sharpening a blade against a grindstone operated with a crank mechanism. Under this image are numbered and captioned illustrations of the cutler’s tools: a bow drill, pincers, an anvil, a grindstone and its mechanism, etc.