Designs for the ceiling and wall of a room decorated with waterbirds and flowering vines
Medium
pen and ink and watercolor on wove and laid papers; mounted on blue wove paper
Dimensions
Overall: 14 7/8 x 10 9/16 in. (37.8 x 26.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.240
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate design captures the refined elegance of 19th-century French interior decoration. Created by Jules-Edmond-Charles Lachaise and Eugène-Pierre Gourdet between 1830 and 1897, the drawing proposes a harmonious scheme for a room’s ceiling and walls, featuring graceful waterbirds amid flowing vines and blossoms. The composition reflects the period’s fascination with naturalistic motifs drawn from gardens and wetlands, transforming everyday nature into an immersive decorative environment. Executed in pen and ink with watercolor on layered wove and laid papers, the work demonstrates the ...
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...