Book cover with blue curved line pattern
19th century
Medium
Relief print (wood or metal)
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 1/4 × 9 1/16 in. (18.4 × 23 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1940
Accession Number
40.21.59
Art Historical Context
This elegant 19th-century book cover, featuring a striking pattern of blue curved lines, exemplifies the anonymous artistry of relief printing—a technique using wood or metal blocks where raised surfaces are inked and pressed onto paper. Measuring 7 1/4 × 9 1/16 inches, its compact size suited the era's growing demand for affordable, decorative bindings amid the industrial printing revolution. Crafted anonymously, likely by a skilled printer or designer in Europe or America, the cover reflects the period's emphasis on repetitive, rhythmic patterns to enhance everyday objects like books. Relie...
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...