Design for a Box-Lid
18th century
Medium
Black chalk and pen and black ink
Dimensions
4 7/16 x 4 1/2 in. (11.3 x 11.5 cm.)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1944
Accession Number
44.54.38
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Design for a Boxid* by Hubert Françoisot captures the playful elegance of 18th French Rococo art.ot (1699–1773), a master illustrator and engraver who worked in both Paris and London, was renowned for his contributions to book illustrations and decorative designs. Created as a preparatory sketch for a luxury object's lid—likely a snuffbox or case—this small-scale drawing (just over 4 inches square) reflects the era's fascination with ornate, intimate luxury goods for the aristocracy. Rendered in black chalk for soft, tonal modeling and pen and black ink for crisp, fluid lines,...
About the Artist
Hubert François Gravelot
Hubert-François Bourguignon, known as Gravelot (1699–1773), was a leading French Rococo engraver, illustrator, and designer whose elegant draftsmanship bridged the artistic worlds of France and England. Born in Paris to a tailor, he adopted his pseudonym from a godfather and grew up alongside his elder brother, the geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville. After neglecting studies at the Col...