Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"
Medium
Photostat
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 7/16 × 8 7/16 in. (29 × 21.5 cm) Book: 12 in. × 9 13/16 in. × 1 3/16 in. (30.5 × 25 × 3 cm)
Classification
Ornament & Architecture|Books|Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931
Accession Number
31.88(1)
Art Historical Context
Step into the enchanting world of 18th-century Chinoiserie with title page of *A New Book of Chinese Designs*1754), a collaborative print by naturalist George Edwards, engraver Joseph Champion, and printmaker Matthew Darly. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings Prints department, this Photostat reproduction captures the intricate ornamental motifs that defined European fascination with Chinese aesthetics. Measuring about 11½ × 8½ inches on the sheet, it served as the gateway to a full book of patterns (12 × 9¾ × 1¼ inches), blending exotic flora, pagodas, and figures in a delicat...