Design for the "Cahier de Balençoires Chinoises"
1770
Medium
Black chalk, with stumping, framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 7/8 × 8 1/8 in. (30.2 × 20.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Frits and Rita Markus Fund, 2023
Accession Number
2023.208
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Jean Pillement's *Design for the "Cier de Balençoiresinoises"* (1770) captures the whimsical spirit of 18th-century chinoiserie, a European fascination with imagined Chinese motifs. Created during the late Rococo era, when ornate, playful designs adorned palaces and furnishings across France and beyond, this drawing likely served as a preparatory study for a notebook (*cahier*) of ornamental patterns swings—elegant, fantastical scenes blending exotic fantasy with decorative elegance. Pillement, a master of Rococo ornamentation, drew inspiration from Asian imports and travelogues, infusing his ...