Plate 68: Glass Frame, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"
Etched and published by Matthias Darly British
Artist and publisher George Edwards British
Not on view
Plate 68 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 a balcony on the bottom, made up of rails with geometric designs, with a Chinese man standing behind it, and in front of it another Chinese man with pointed straw hat, seated on a carriage that is being pulled by a third man. The sides of the frame are made up of two canopies with two thin columns, interlaced by thin branches with stylized flowers, roses, and leaves. The canopies are flanked above by two smaller versions of them, with flags on the tops, flanked on the inner sides by C-scrolls, separated by a small canopy on the center. Two winged dragons stand on top of the scrlling motifs.
