Islamic Ceiling Design for Deepdene, Dorking, Surrey
Medium
Graphite, pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions
9 x 5 1/2 in. (22.9 x 13.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.827.14
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate preparatory drawing, titled *Islamic Ceiling Design for Deepene, Dorking, Surrey*, was created in 1875 French designers Jules-Ed-Charles Lachaise Eugène-Pierre Gourdet Rendered in graphite, pen and black ink, watercolor, gouache on a modest 9 x 5½-inch sheet, it captures an intricate ceiling pattern inspired by Islamic decorative traditions. Flourishing floral motifs—evident in the work's tags—interlace in rhythmic arabesques, ev the geometric precision and organic elegance of Moorish and Persian architecture. Commissioned for Deepdene, a grand Victorian estate in Surrey, England, the design reflects the era's Orientalist craze, where European elites embraced exotic motifs amid Britain's imperial encounters with the Islamic world. Such patterns symbolized luxury and sophistication, blending Eastern intricacy with Western interior revival styles like Aestheticism. Lachaise and Gourdet, known for ornamental work, used mixed media to vividly convey texture and color: graphite for initial sketches, ink for sharp outlines, and opaque gouache for luminous blooms, making this a precise blueprint for opulent craftsmanship. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (acquired via the Dodge Fund in 1967), this piece highlights how 19th-century architects bridged cultures, turning architectural fantasy into tangible splendor for elite homes. A window into Victorian eclecticism, it invites us to trace the global threads woven into everyday grandeur.
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...