Box (Boîte)
Unknown Artist
1730–40
Medium
enamel and gold leaf on copper mounted in silver
Dimensions
3.9 × 6.3 × 5.1 cm
Classification
Miscellaneous
Department
Decorative Art and Design
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade
Accession Number
1916.612
About this artwork
Chinoiserie in 18th-century France incorporated imitations of East Asian motifs, designs, and ornaments into European art. These imitations were often distorted by the European imagination and were not accurate representations of the cultures from which they drew inspiration. Motifs typical of chinoiserie can be seen in this box’s floral patterns and repeated representations of pagodas, dragons, and peacocks.