Sheet with overall crisscross pattern
19th century
Medium
Relief print (wood or metal)
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 7/16 × 9 9/16 in. (16.3 × 24.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1948
Accession Number
48.142.77
Art Historical Context
This unassuming yet intriguing *Sheet with overall crisscross pattern*, anonymously in the 19 century, exemplifies the utilitarian artistry of relief printing. Produced using a wood or metal block where the raised crisscross design is inked and pressed onto paper, this modest sheet measures just 6 7/16 × 9 9/16 inches (16.3 × 24.3 cm). Such techniques were staples of the era's burgeoning print industry, allowing for efficient replication of patterns essential to textile manufacturing, wallpaper production, and decorative arts during the Industrial Revolution. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum...
About the Artist
Anonymous
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...