Design for ceramic tile decoration of a bathroom in "Pompeian" manner (possibly for Deepdene, Dorking, Surrey)
second half 19th century
Medium
Graphite, pen and brown ink, watercolor, and gouache
Dimensions
13 7/16 x 19 5/8 in. (34.1 x 49.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite design drawing, created by French artists Jules-EdmondCharles Lachaise andène-Pierre Gourdet in second half of the th century, envisions a lavish bathroom clad in ceramic tiles inspired by the "Pompeian" manner. Rendered in graphite, pen and brown ink, watercolor, and gouache on a sheet measuring 13 7/16 x 19 5/8 inches, it captures intricate patterns of motifs drawn from ancient Roman frescoes unearthed at Pompeii—vines, garlands, and mythical figures evoking opulent antiquity. Likely intended for Deepdene, the grand estate in Dorking, Surrey, owned by collector Henry Thomas Ho...
About the Artist
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise|Eugène-Pierre Gourdet · 1897–1897
Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise, born Jules Lachaise on September 2, 1836, in Paris, emerged as a prominent French painter and draughtsman specializing in lavish interior decorations during the Second Empire and beyond. Little is known about his early life and formal training, though he married Berthe Gourdet in 1866, forging a close professional partnership with her brother, the decorator Eugène-Pi...