Plate 52: Summer House, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"
Etched and published by Matthias Darly British
Artist and publisher George Edwards British
Not on view
Plate 52 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 summer gouse, with a hexagonal door with a geometric pattern, flanked to the sides by two pairs of columns, separated by an elongated cartouche with marble. The outer columns are flanked by fences made up of scrolling leaves with rails with geometric patterns. Above the main body of the house is a frieze with three windows with geometric motifs, and the ceiling is made up of semi-abstract shell shapes with scrolling leaves, flanked above by a small canopy with a fence with abstract geometric patterns and a ceiling with scrolling tips, with bells hanging from it. Two additional bells hang from the sides of the larger ceiling.
