Jean Boisserie was undoubtedly the most highly regarded dinandier (coppersmith)in France. Born and raised in the beautiful Dordogne region, he maintained his workshop in the village of Cublac, on the outskirts of Terrasson-Lavilledieu from 1966 until his death in August 2026. He was a master craftsman who worked exclusively by hand-raising copper from flat sheet, laboriously hand-hammering the metal to produce objects ranging from the miniscule to industrial scale. He also worked with precious metals and goldsmithing techniques.
Originally he qualified as a boiler maker and despite gaining qualifications to progress his career he fell in love with copper and now his passion is copper crafting. Over the years through public demonstrations Jean gained an amazing reputation and recognition for his work.
He also had a passion for music archaeology, and worked extensively with museums and archaeologists to reconstruct objects from antiquity, including 6th Century Merovingian bells and singing bowls. In 2004 he was invited to join a team of archaeologists to study six instruments which were part of a Celtic horde discovered at the Sanctuary of Tintignac, in the Correze region of France and to make a reproduction of the most complete of these.
As he worked from graphic representations the reconstructions he made of these objects were approximate and not particularly interesting. With the use of 3D data he was able to create an object much closer to the original than previously achieved. The first reconstruction was made in brass, as Jean had never worked with bronze leaf before. In 2008 he was invited to join the Music Archaeology Project. Working with the trombonist and carnyx player John Kenny, he was commissioned to make the first bronze reconstructions of the Tintignac carnyx and Etruscan Cornu. Not only did he recreate these fabulous instruments, he also gave many lectures on the reconstruction of them throughout Europe.
One of Jean’s final projects was the reconstruction of an extraordinary ceremonial helmet in the form of a long necked bird which was found in the Tintignac horde. He continued to work until the final days of his life.