Spoon Designs
19th century
Medium
Pen and brown ink over graphite on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 7 1/8 x 4 9/16 in. (18.1 x 11.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.50.156
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate sheet of spoon designs, created by an anonymous French artist in the 19th century, captures the meticulous process of ornamental invention. Rendered in pen and brown ink over graphite on laid paper, the drawing reveals the artist’s working method: light graphite underdrawing allowed for fluid exploration of shapes, while the final ink lines brought crisp definition to handles, bowls, and decorative motifs. Measuring just over seven inches tall, the compact format suggests it served as a practical reference for silversmiths or manufacturers. Such studies belonged to a long tradit...
About the Artist
Anonymous, French, 19th century · 1800–1900
**Anonymous, French, 19th Century (ca. 1800–1900)** The artist cataloged as Anonymous, French, 19th century embodies the enigmatic yet essential contributions of unidentified creators to France's vibrant 19th-century art world. Active roughly between 1800 and 1900, this figure—or potentially collective workshop—produced a diverse array of works amid the nation's transition from Neoclassicism thro...