Design for an Incense Burner (?)
19th century
Medium
Pen and ink with wash on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 11 13/16 x 7 7/8 in. (30 x 20 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1955
Accession Number
55.540.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate 19th-century French drawing, tentatively titled *Design for an Incense Burner captures the imagination as a preparatory sketch for an elegant decorative object. Created anonymously by a skilled draftsman, it exemplifies the meticulous design process behind luxury household items during France's Belle Époque era, when ornate metalwork and ceramics flourished in bourgeois homes and ecclesiastical settings. Incense burners, evoking ritualistic scents and opulent style, were popular symbols of refinement, blending functionality with artistic flair. Executed in pen and ink with wash ...
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...