Mége, Luciano (sold)

Mége, Luciano (fl. 1843 - 1862) was a French-born engraver and lithographer, working in Montevideo in the middle of the 19th century. Nothing is known of him apart from his work. In the 1840s he worked on behalf of the Uruguayan mint, producing coins, stamps, and paper money. One of the most sought after Uruguayan coins, the 1844 'Sol De Cabellera,' has been attributed to Mége on the basis of comparison with his work on a stamp of the same period. After the close of the national mint in 1845, Mége operated his own shop, albeit continuing to produce matter for the government. In 1860 his ship printed El Digesto Nacional, a record of laws, government decrees and other resolutions and official acts. Mége produced a lithograph portrait of the Colorado party's Gabriel Antonio Pereira (1794 -1861) during his presidency, and his imprint has appeared on a panoramic view of Montevideo, and one of Buenos Aires. We see no other documents attributed to Mége's print shop any later than 1860, and no further record of the man. It is possible that following the election of Bernardo Prudencio Berro (1803 - 1868) and the passage of power from the Colorado party to the Blancos, Mége's print shop may have lost the governmental contracts that were his primary source of work. He began an association with the German lithographer Guillermo Willems as early as 1856, printing stamps under the name Mége y Willems. After his 1862 death, his widow continued the business with Willems. After 1869 the company was renamed Mege y Compania.