Plate 61: Glass Frame, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"

Plate 61 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 glass frame with stylized flowers, exotic animals, and scrolling leaves. On the lower part, on the center, is a gate formed by rails with geometric patterns. To the right is a tree with scrolling branches, flanked above by a column, interlaced by the neck and tail of a winged dragon and large scrolling motifs. To the left is a basket with fruits between two seated men, flanked above by a column interlaced by garlands of flowers and leaves. The upper part of the frame is made up of scrolling leaves and garlands of flowers and leaves, with a canopy on the center, with ceiling made up of scrolling leaves, two of them extending towards the sides and holding hanging bells. Two additional bells hang at the sides of the capital of the columns that form the base of the side panels of the frame. On the bottom, to the sides, are two small candles: one is on top of the head of one of the Chinese men holding the basket on the left; the other is on top of a scroll that is being hugged by the dragon's tail. The two designs presented on either side of the frame represent the alternatives for the design that could be chosen by the client.