Designs for Door Hardware
ca. 1775–85
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown, yellow, and blue wash. Framing lines in pen and ink.
Dimensions
9 1/4 x 16 1/4 in. (23.5 x 41.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Raphael Esmerian, 1961
Accession Number
61.680.3.1
Art Historical Context
This delicate sheet of *Designs for Door Hardware created by an anonymous French around 1775–85, offers a glimpse into the refined world of late 18th-century decorative arts. Rendered in pen and brown ink with brush and brown, yellow, and blue washes, plus framing lines in pen and ink, the drawing measures 9 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches. It showcases multiple precise studies for ornate door fittings—likely escutcheons, handles, and hinges—blending functionality with graceful ornamentation suited to grand interiors. In the era of Louis XVI, French design emphasized symmetry and elegance, transitioning ...
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...