A Salver and an Openwork Base
1755/1760
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk and graphite on laid paper, laid down on an album sheet
Dimensions
sheet: 35.6 × 25.7 cm (14 × 10 1/8 in.) mount: 45.6 × 33.6 cm (17 15/16 × 13 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
William B. O'Neal Fund
Accession Number
2016.68.2
Art Historical Context
Luigi Valadier’s drawing *A Salver and an Openwork Base* captures the refined elegance of mid-eighteenth-century decorative design. Created between 1755 and 1760, the sheet presents a detailed study for a silver tray and its pierced stand, rendered with pen and brown ink over preparatory chalk and graphite. Valadier, a leading Roman silversmith, used delicate washes to suggest the play of light across raised surfaces and openwork patterns, revealing how such objects would catch candlelight in aristocratic dining rooms. The medium itself highlights the careful planning behind luxury metalwork....