Plate 4, from "A New Book of Chinese Ornaments"
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt
Accession Number
1920-36-207
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
Jean-Baptiste Pillement, a French artist (1728–1808) renowned for his rococo designs, created *Plate 4* from *A New Book of Chinese Ornaments* around1750. This etching exemplifies the mid-18th-century craze for Chinoiserie, Europe's fanciful adaptation of Chinese aesthetics into decorative motifs. Pillement, who traveled widely across Europe, blended delicate floral patterns, pagodas, and imaginary landscapes in a light, playful style that captured the rococo era's love for asymmetry and ornamentation. As a print from a pattern book, this plate served practical purposes: designers, textile ma...