Design for a Ewer
1734–91
Medium
Pen and black ink with brush and gray wash and red chalk, over graphite underdrawing.
Dimensions
9 3/8 x 5 11/16 in. (23.8 x 14.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880
Accession Number
80.3.665
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Charles Delafosse (4–1791), a prominent French ornamental designer and engraver of the late Rococo and early Neoclassical periods, created this exquisite *Design for a Ewer as a preparatory drawing for a decorative pitcher. Ewers like this were status symbols in 18th-century European households, often crafted in silver or gilt bronze for serving water or wine at lavish dinners. Delafosse's composition captures the era's taste for elegant, flowing forms adorned with scrolls, foliage, and fantastical motifs, bridging the playful curves of Rococo with emerging Neoclassical restraint. Render...
About the Artist
Jean Charles Delafosse · 1734–1789
French architect. Comment on works: architect; copper engraver Comment on works: Architect; Draughtsman; Ornamentist; Engraver