Design for Panel Decoration Centered on a Passion Flower
1828–40
Medium
Watercolor, pen and black ink
Dimensions
sheet: 12 x 6 5/8 in. (30.5 x 16.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.659.14
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the early 19th century, Britain's Regency and early Victorian eras, ornamental designs like J. Hulme's * for Panel Decoration Centered a Passion Flower* (ca. 1828–40) captured the era's fascination with nature-inspired elegance. This delicate watercolor and pen-and-black-ink drawing, measuring just 12 x 6 5/8 inches, served as a blueprint for decorative panels, likely intended for furniture, walls, or screens in fashionable interiors. Hulme, a lesser-known designer, skillfully rendered the exotic passion flower—its intricate blooms and tendrils—at the composition's heart, surrounded by lush...