Design for a Chair
19th century
Medium
Graphite, brush and brown wash, gouache
Dimensions
7 3/8 x 6 1/4 in. (18.7 x 15.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.50.139
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate "Design for a Chair," created by an anonymous French artist in the 19th century, offers a glimpse into the meticulous world of furniture design during France's dynamic era of innovation and ornamentation. Rendered on a modest sheet measuring 7 3/8 x 6 1/4 inches (18.7 x 15.8 cm), it exemplifies the preparatory drawings used by designers, architects, and workshops to envision elegant seating before crafting the final piece. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it entered the collection through The Elisha Whittelsey Fund in 1949, highlighting i...
About the Artist
Anonymous, French, 19th century · 1800–1900
**Anonymous, French, 19th Century (ca. 1800–1900)** The artist cataloged as Anonymous, French, 19th century embodies the enigmatic yet essential contributions of unidentified creators to France's vibrant 19th-century art world. Active roughly between 1800 and 1900, this figure—or potentially collective workshop—produced a diverse array of works amid the nation's transition from Neoclassicism thro...