Probably originally from Abbeville in France, sculptor Jacob Cressant (before 1685–after 1759) lived much of his life in the Dutch Republic. Two garden vases in the Rijksmuseum are his earliest known works, dating from 1714. He made these along with other sculptures for Zijdebalen, the garden commissioned by wealthy Utrecht silk merchant David van Mollem. It was probably at the latter’s request that he moved to Utrecht in 1729, remaining until the garden was finished. In 1742, he moved to Amsterdam, where he made a chimneypiece for the town hall. Around 1751, Cressant returned to France to teach at the Académie de St Luc in Paris. He taught his son Jacob Mattheus sculpture and gave drawing lessons to painter Jacob de Wit.
