Design for a Sideboard with Mirrors and Shell Ornament, a Casket Below
early 19th century
Medium
Pen and ink, brush and wash
Dimensions
sheet: 8 11/16 x 12 3/16 in. (22 x 31 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1938
Accession Number
38.37.40
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate pen and ink drawing with brush and wash, created by an anonymous British artist in the early 19th, presents a refined design for a sideboard featuring elegant mirrors framed by intricate shell ornaments, with a small casket positioned below. Measuring just 8 11/16 x 12 3/16 inches, it exemplifies the meticulous preparatory sketches used by designers and craftsmen during Britain's Regency era, when furniture blended neoclassical symmetry with playful natural motifs like shells—evoking the sea's organic curves and ancient Greco-Roman inspirations. Shell decorations were a hallmark...