Jacques Chéreau (Chéreau le Jeune, Chereau the Younger; October 29, 1688 - December 1, 1776) was a French engraver and printmaker. His often signed his work as Chéreau le Jeune to distinguish himself from his older brother, also a prominent engraver, François Chéreau I (1680 - 1729). Jacques learnt engraving under his brother before studying under Gérard Audran (1640 - 1703). He also lived for a time in London where he learnt how to engrave optical views, for which his firm later became known. Chéreau set up shop at Rue Saint-Jacques, Paris, a well-established center of engraving. His second marriage, to Marguerite-Geneviève Chiquet (17?? - 1773) in 1724, connected him to the firm of engraver and printseller Jacques Chiquet (1673 - 1721), whose workshop and plates he inherited in 1741. His daughter with Marguerite-Geneviève Chiquet was Geneviève-Marguerite Chéreau (17?? - 1782), who married her cousin François Chéreau II (1717 - 1755), son of François Chéreau I (1680 - 1729). After his death, Geneviève-Marguerite continued to run the business, engraving and publishing as Veuve Chéreau (Widow Chéreau, note there are two other later Veuve Chéreaus within the same family). She likely remarried into the Basset family, the beginning of a long series of incestuous intermarriages between the Chéreau and Basset clans intended to keep the flourishing business in the family. The family connections and overlaps are near impossible to unwind.
