Fleuret
A quarry drilling tool with a steel rod and cutting end used with rock drills or pneumatic hammers.
French Terms
Foration / Forage
Mechanical drilling of holes into rock during quarrying or stone work.
Figurine
A small sculpted or modeled figure.
Fini / Non fini
The deliberate degree of finish or visible incompletion chosen by the sculptor.
Fleuronné
French term meaning ornamented with flowers or fleurons.
L’Approche
A traditional French system for classifying sculpture according to its relationship to the natural size of the human figure, from miniature works to colossal monuments.
Riffler
A small, finely shaped sculptor’s file used for delicate refinement, intricate contouring, and detailed surface work in sculpture and carving.
Arrangement
The deliberate ordering of forms, masses, and figures within a composition to achieve unity and expressive coherence.
Art Nouveau
The 1890s–1910s movement of organic, flowing sculptural ornament derived from natural forms; anti-classical in program but rooted in Gothic and medieval carving traditions.
Atelier
The sculptor’s workshop and studio; in the academic tradition, a private teaching workshop within the French Beaux-Arts system.