Mise-en-Carte (Point-Paper)
1760s
Medium
Opaque watercolor over etching in black ink on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 42.5 × 52.8 cm (16 3/4 × 20 13/16 in.); Plate: 44 × 53 cm (17 3/8 × 20 7/8 in.); Sheet: 45 × 55.7 cm (17 3/4 × 21 15/16 in.)
Classification
design
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
148920
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Designs for silk weaving were drawn by professional artists who had often trained in flower painting, a skill that could be deployed for the decoration of objects besides textiles. The designs were painted on the point paper grid, which then served as a guide to the person mounting the threads on the loom. The artists’ names do not appear on these technical drawings; only the companies that commissioned the designs and wove the silk are identified.