Design for a Pendant Trophy
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-519-3
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
This print, titled Design for a Pendant Trophy, by the French artist René Charier (1680–3) and dates to circa 1736. Held in the Smithsonian American Art after purchase by the Advisory Council it is classified as a print (medium unknown). Research on the work remains in progress, yet it already offers a window into how decorative designs circulated in early 18th-century Europe. A pendant trophy was an ornamental motif—often a small, hanging composition of military or classical symbols—used in jewelry, metalwork, and architectural decoration. Prints such as this one allowed artists’ ideas to reach goldsmiths, jewelers, and patrons far beyond a single workshop, spreading elegant French taste across the continent. Even with limited documentation, the sheet illustrates the vital role of reproductive prints in the decorative arts. Visitors can appreciate how a single design could inspire luxurious objects that signaled prestige and victory, connecting Charpentier’s era to later collectors and museums.