Design for a Pen and Ink Stand
19th century
Medium
Pen and gray ink, brush and gray, yellow, brown, and black wash; framing lines in pen and black ink
Dimensions
sheet: 11 1/16 x 17 5/8 in. (28.1 x 44.8 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
49.50.168
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate 19th-century French drawing, titled *Design for a Pen and Ink Stand*, showcases the artistry of an anonymous designer in the realm of ornamental architecture. Created with pen and gray ink, enhanced by brush washes in gray, yellow, brown, and black, and framed with precise black ink lines, the sheet measures 11 1/16 x 17 5/8 inches. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of The Elisha Whittelsey Collection (acquired 1949), it exemplifies the meticulous preparatory sketches used by artisans to envision luxury desk accessories. The design...
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...