Cartouche Design
mid- 18th century
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-328-13
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**Cartouche Design** by Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste Poilly (French, 1707–1780) captures the ornate elegance of mid-18th-century French decorative arts. Poilly, a skilled engraver, specialized in intricate prints that adorned books, maps, and architectural elements. A cartouche—a scrolling, ornamental frame often featuring foliage, shells, or mythical motifs—served as a decorative enclosure for titles, coats of arms, or illustrations, embodying the playful exuberance of the Rococo style prevalent in Louis XV-era France. As a print from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, this work high...