Design for Wall Paneling and Ceiling in Pompeiian Style, The Deepdene, Dorking, Surrey

Art Historical Context

This delicate watercolor design, created by French architects Jules-EdmondCharles Lachaise andène-Pierre Gourdet between1875 and 1879, envisions opulent wall paneling and ceiling decorations in the Pompeiian style for The Deepdene, a grand Gothic Revival estate in Dorking,. Measuring just 12⅞ × 4⅛ inches, it captures intricate motifs inspired by the ancient Roman frescoes unearthed at Pompeii—vibrant arabesques, garlands, and mythological figures rendered with the precision of 19th-century ornamental draftsmanship. The Pompeiian Revival, peaking in the Victorian era, reflected a Romantic fascination with classical antiquity amid Europe's archaeological fervor. For elite British homes like The Deepdene—once home to art collector Henry Thomas Hope—this style blended historicism with modern luxury, transforming interiors into immersive "Pompeian" fantasies. Watercolor's luminous transparency was ideal for such proposals, allowing designers to convey texture, color, and spatial harmony in a portable format. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (acquired via the Dodge Fund in 1967), this work highlights the cross-cultural exchange between French design expertise and British patronage, offering a window into the eclectic tastes that defined high Victorian decoration.

About the Artist

Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise|Eugène-Pierre Gourdet · 1897–1897

Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, born Jules Lachaise on September 2, 1836, in Paris, emerged as a prominent French painter and draughtsman specializing in lavish interior decorations during the Second Empire and beyond. Little is known about his early life and formal training, though he married Berthe Gourdet in 1866, forging a close professional partnership with her brother, the decorator Eugène-Pi...