Escutcheon, from "Recueil Nouveau de Differens Cartouche"
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-161
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
This print, titled Escutcheon, belongs to Jacques de Lajoüe’s Recueil Nouveau de Differensouche, a suite of ornamental designs issued around 1732.ajoüe (1687–1761 was a leading French decorator and painter whose work helped define the emerging Rococo style, with its preference for fluid curves, shell-like motifs, and light-hearted elegance over the heavier grandeur of the preceding Baroque. An escutcheon is a shield-shaped field traditionally reserved for coats of arms or inscriptions; here it is surrounded by inventive cartouches—ornamental frames of scrolling foliage, ribbons, and architect...