A Salver with Two Bases
1755/1760
Medium
pen and brown ink with brown wash over graphite on laid paper, laid down on an album sheet
Dimensions
sheet: 37 × 27 cm (14 9/16 × 10 5/8 in.) mount: 45.4 × 34.4 cm (17 7/8 × 13 9/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
William B. O'Neal Fund
Accession Number
2016.68.1
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing by Luigi Valadier captures a design for an elegant silver salver supported by two ornate bases, created between 1755 and 1760. Valadier, a leading Roman silversmith and designer of the late eighteenth century, was renowned for blending Rococo exuberance with emerging Neoclassical restraint. His preparatory works like this one reveal the meticulous planning behind luxury objects commissioned for aristocratic and papal patrons across Europe. Executed in pen and brown ink with subtle washes over graphite, the sheet demonstrates Valadier’s precise draftsmanship. The medium a...