Design for Two Vases
ca. 1770–85
Medium
Pen and gray and brown ink, and watercolor
Dimensions
14 7/8 x 9 3/16 in. (37.8 x 23.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Raphael Esmerian, 1961
Accession Number
61.680.1.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate *Design for Two Vases*, created by an anonymous French artist around 1770–85, the elegance of late 18th-century ornamental. Rendered on paper measuring nearly 15 by 9 inches, it features two vases adorned with flowing garlands—likely floral motifs symbolizing abundance and grace. Such preparatory drawings were essential for crafting luxury objects like porcelain, silver, or glassware, reflecting France's thriving decorative arts scene during the waning Rococo era and the rise of Neoclassicism. The artwork's classification as a drawing in the ornament and architecture category hi...
About the Artist
Anonymous, French, 18th century · 1700–1800
The artist known as Anonymous, French, 18th century, represents a collective of unidentified talents active roughly between 1700 and 1800, a period of profound artistic evolution in France from the opulent Rococo to the austere dawn of Neoclassicism and Revolutionary fervor. Little is documented about their personal training or mentors, as their anonymity obscures individual biographies, though th...