Design for a Chandelier
19th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink.
Dimensions
sheet: 12 13/16 x 8 1/16 in. (32.5 x 20.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1966
Accession Number
66.631.69
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate *Design for a Chandelier*, created by an anonymous French artist in the 19th century, offers a glimpse into the opulent world of interior decoration during France's transformative era. Executed in pen and brown ink on a modest sheet measuring 12 13/16 x 8 1/16 inches, it captures the intricate planning behind grand lighting fixtures that illuminated salons, theaters, and palaces. Such designs were essential in an age of rapid urbanization and neoclassical revival, where chandeliers symbolized wealth and sophistication. The use of pen and brown ink—a favored medium for draftsmen—...
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...