The Game of Chinese Chess
1741–63
Medium
Etching and Engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 15 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (39.4 x 27.7 cm) plate: 9 5/8 x 6 7/16 in. (24.5 x 16.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1966
Accession Number
66.628.4(1)
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Game of Chinese Chess is a delightful 18th-century print created by English engraver John Ingram after a design by François Boucher, the celebrated French Rococo master, between 1741 and 1763. This etching and engraving captures a charming domestic scene of children and women engrossed in a game of Xiangqi—China's traditional chess variant—evoking the playful elegance of everyday life. Boucher's signature style shines through in the fluid lines, soft textures, and whimsical details, hallmarks of Rococo art that celebrated leisure, femininity, and lighthearted joy amid the opulent courts ...