Design for a Daybed

About this artwork

Research in Progress

Art Historical Context

This elegant print, *Design for a Daybed*, records a furniture concept by JeanCharles Delafosse (4–1789), leading French architect and ornamental of the late eighteenth century. Working in the refined Neoclassical style with the reign of Louis XVI, Delosse helped popularize the *goût grec*, or “Greek taste,” replaced Rococo curves with clearer geometry, classical motifs, and a sense of measured grandeur. The impression itself dates from 1849–66—decades after the artist’s death—showing how widely his published designs continued to circulate. Prints of this kind served cabinetmakers, upholsterers, and patrons as both artistic models and practical guides. A daybed, intended for daytime reclining, invited designers to unite comfort with architectural ornament: balanced proportions and decorative detail that could turn a piece of furniture into a small statement of taste. Acquired for the Smithsonian American Art Museum by the Advisory Council, the sheet reminds us that decorative design was once theorized as carefully as painting or architecture, and that a single printed invention could shape interiors far beyond the workshop where it was first imagined.