Jacob Faber

Who is Jacob Faber?

Jacob Faber or Jakob Faber, also known as the "Master IF" from the monogram on his prints, was a formschneider of woodcuts and metalcuts, engraver, designer of decorative prints and publisher. Faber was active in the period 1516-1550, in Basel in Switzerland and subsequently in France.

Jacob Faber is a German form of what was presumably his original name, Jacques Lefèvre, a common French name – the equivalent of John Smith – shared by several other figures active in similar circles at the period; the main ones are mentioned below. Faber was especially noted for the many metalcut title-page borders and book illustrations he made to designs by Hans Holbein the Younger in Basel in the 1520s.