Design for a Navette
Medium
Pen and brown ink, over traces of graphite
Dimensions
4 9/16 x 2 1/16 in. (11.6 x 5.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Fletcher Fund, 1944
Accession Number
44.54.44
Tags
Art Historical Context
Hubert François Gravelot, a leading French Rococo artist and designer active in the 18th century created this exquisite *Design for a Navette a preparatory sketch for a shuttle-shaped decorative object, likely a pendant, snuffbox, or jewelry frame. Rococo style, with its playful elegance and intricate motifs, shines through in the lively putti—chubby, winged cherubs—and blooming flowers that fill the composition. Gravelot, influenced by Antoine Watteau, was renowned for his contributions to book illustrations, theater sets, and ornamental designs, bridging French finesse with English tastes du...
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...