Blue and pink paste paper with circle and wavy line pattern
19th century
Medium
Relief print (wood or metal)
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 3/16 × 8 7/16 in. (28.4 × 21.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1940
Accession Number
40.21.112
Art Historical Context
This vibrant 19th-century sheet of blue and pink paste paper adorned with a lively circle and wavy line pattern, exemplifies the whimsical decorative arts of its era. Created anonymously using a relief print technique—likely from wood or metal blocks—the artwork measures 11 3/16 × 8 7/16 inches and was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the Brisbane Dick Fund in 0. Paste papers like this were handmade by brushing colored paste onto damp sheets, then imprinting or tooling patterns to create textured, marbled effects, blending craft and artistry. Historically, paste paper emerge...
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...