Design with Flowers and Rocaille Ornaments
ca. 1760
Medium
Black chalk, with some red chalk, heightened with white, on faded blue paper
Dimensions
21 x 12 1/4 in. (53.3 x 31.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1971
Accession Number
1971.513.41
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Pillement's *Design with Flowers and Rocaille Ornaments* captures the playful elegance of mid-eighteenth-century French decorative arts. Created around 1760, this delicate drawing showcases the artist's renowned skill in blending natural motifs with the swirling, shell-like forms characteristic of the Rococo style. Pillement, a leading ornamental designer of his time, often produced such works as models for textiles, wallpapers, and porcelain, helping to spread the lighthearted French taste across Europe. The medium itself enhances the design's charm. Working in black and red chalk heigh...