Design for a Sofa Seat Cover (?) with an Ornamental Frame Containing a Vase with a Large Bundle of Flowers and Leaves and Decorated with Acanthus Leaves and Two Fleurs de Lys
1870–1900 (?)
Medium
Watercolor
Dimensions
Sheet: 16 3/8 × 10 9/16 in. (41.6 × 26.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.50.194
Art Historical Context
This delicate watercolor design, created by an anonymous French artist around 1870–1900, captures the opulent spirit of late 19th decorative arts. Titled *Design for a Sofa Seat (?) with an Ornamental Containing a Vase with Large Bundle of Flowers and and Decorated with Ac Leaves and Two Fleurs Lys*, it showcases a lavish ornamental frame enclosing a bountiful vase of flowers. Classical motifs like scrolling acanthus leaves—symbols of enduring Greco-Roman elegance—and the iconic fleurs de lys, evoking French royal heritage, blend into a harmonious, symmetrical composition perfect for upholster...
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...