Plate 10: Grand Bed, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"
Etched and published by Matthias Darly British
Artist and publisher George Edwards British
Not on view
Tenth plate of 'A New Book of Chinese Designs', consisting of a title page, index, and 120 plates, etched and published in 1754 by the British caricaturist, printseller and ornamental engraver Matthew Darly, in collaboration with George Edwards. The book consists of a variety of ornamental and costume designs of Chinese inspiration, some of them copies of the original works (including the title).
This plate consists of a design for a grand bed, with three seated figures on the bedhead, one of them under a canopy with straw ceiling, on a cartouche with a Chinese inscription and framed with scrolling motifs, and the other two, at the sides of the cartouche, holding parasoles. The front columns have patterns of lozenges and bases made up of scrolling motifs. The canopy of the bed is made up of a sort of ceiling inspired on Chinese architecture with small rails with semi-abstract, geometric designs, and from it hangs a sort of scallop-edged frieze with scrolling motifs and bells.
