Suite de Vases

Art Historical Context

Suite de Vases is a rare 1764 volume of etchings produced through the collaboration of architect and designer Ennemond Alexandre Petitot with engraver Benigno Bossi and other contributors. Created under the patronage of Léon Guillaume Du Tillot in Parma, the book presents an imaginative series of ornamental vase designs that blend classical forms with surprising, even playful details. The etchings capture intricate surface decoration, allowing viewers to appreciate the precision of line and the inventive ornament that defined mid-eighteenth-century European taste. The inclusion of unexpected motifs—female nudes, elephants, and axes—reveals the period’s fascination with exotic and theatrical elements drawn from antiquity, travel accounts, and court spectacle. These vases were never intended for practical use; instead, they functioned as printed models for craftsmen, architects, and collectors seeking inspiration for silverwork, porcelain, or garden sculpture. As a published “suite,” the book circulated these inventive ideas across Europe at a moment when print culture was reshaping decorative design. Today the volume offers a vivid window into Enlightenment-era creativity, where technical mastery of etching met boundless ornamental fantasy. Its presence in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection underscores the enduring appeal of such pattern books as both artistic statements and historical documents of taste.

About the Artist

Ennemond Alexandre Petitot|Benigno Bossi|Léon Guillaume Du Tillot|J. H. Köch|A. Zingy · 1727–1801

Recipient of the Grand Prix in 1745. Court architect to the Bourbons of Parma. Became a citizen of Parma in 1758. Elected a member of the Académie royale d'architecture (France) in Paris in 1762. Macmillan mentions that Petitot worked as urban planner, inventor of decorative displays, technician of hydraulic engineering, engraver and planner of festivals. French architect, printmaker and designer,...