atelier
nounUK /əˈtɛl.jeɪ/ · US /əˈtɛlˌjeɪ/
Etymology Unadapted borrowing from French atelier, from Middle French astelier, from astelle (“small piece of wood, etc., to hold a broken bone in place, splint”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- (“axis; axle”) via Latin assula) + -ier (suffix denoting the location of an abode). Compare typologically Latin harēna, whence arena.
1
A studio or workshop, especially for an artist, designer, or fashion house.
- The Dukes de Claulne, father and ſon, had laboratories for clock and vvatch making as vvell as for machinery. Theſe ateliers, as the French name them, vvere as fine and complete for the choice of tools as it vvas poſſible to find in Europe; […]1792 November 4, W. Blakey, “[Mr. Blakey on Pendulums]”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine: And Historical Chronicle, volume LXII, part II, number 5, London: […] John Nichols, […]; [a]nd sold by Eliz[abeth] Newbery, […], published November 1792, →OCLC, page 1005, column 1:
- I paid a visit to the celebrated [Antonio] Canova in his vast and interesting atelier. He had been at Naples a short time before to form his own judgment of the situation intended for the equestrian statue of Napoleon, which we saw already almost finished in his atelier.1839, Mathieu Dumas [i.e., Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas], chapter VI, in [anonymous], transl., Memoirs of His Own Time; including the Revolution, the Empire, and the Restoration. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 272:
4 more examples
- The life of a young artist here is the easiest, merriest, dirtiest existence possible. […] [H]e arrives at his atelier at a tolerably early hour, and labours among a score of companions as merry and poor as himself.1840, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “On the French School of Painting: With Appropriate Anecdotes, Illustrations, and Philosophical Disquisitios. In a Letter to Mr. MacGilp of London.”, in The Paris Sketch Book, volume I, London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC, page 78:
- At the meeting of the Society, February 6, it was stated that red glass was preferable to yellow for the windows of photographic ateliers.1874 May 8, “Chemical News from Foreign Sources”, in William Crookes, editor, The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science. […], volume XXIX, number 754, London: Henry Gillman, […], →OCLC, page 207, column 1:
- [Albert de] Lautreppe is awfully nice—a quiet, gentlemanly fellow, gonflé de rêves, as he describes himself—once a sculptor in the atelier of Henry Crosse, he knows something of art, and is really a resource to me.1894 February, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Letter XXXVII”, in S[idney] C[olvin], editor, Vailima Letters: Being Correspondence Addressed by Robert Louis Stevenson to Sidney Colvin […], London: Methuen and Co. […], published 1895, →OCLC, page 322:
- Hats with transparent tulle and crêpe brims and hemp or leghorn crowns are succeeding the small martial styles of which this atelier made quite a feature earlier in the season.1915 March, “Present Fad for Toques and Helmets Succeeded by Vogue for Second Empire Styles”, in The Illustrated Milliner, manufacturers’ edition, volume XVI, number 3, New York, N.Y.: The Illustrated Milliner Company, →OCLC, page 15, column 1: