Design for Wallpaper or Panel (?) with an Orientalist Motif with Three Phoenix-Like Exotic Birds with Colorful Feathers and a Flowering Tree within an Ornamental Frame with Tassels Resembling a Tapestry
Rectangular sheet of paper with a design, possibly for a wallpaper or a panel, maybe a tapestry, from the second half of the nineteenth century, inspired on the style of Louis XVI, forming part of the Neo-Classical Revival that took place in France and Britain from the 1850s on. The style was part of the Classical and Renaissance Revival that took place from about 1850, where the interest on the art and architecture from Ancient Rome and the 15th and 16th centuries was propelled by archaeological discoveries in Greece, Italy and Egypt. Through this style, Classical and Renaissance pieces of art and design were reinterpreted in a variety of forms and motifs, and classical figures, scrolling decorations, strapwork, and grotesques and moresques, became central element in design. This Revival was characterized by the use of design motifs that alluded to Classical Antiquity, including vases and trophies with pastoral attributes, classical figures and cameos, a mixture of real and fantastic figures, and swags and festoons. These swags and festoons comprised garlands of fabric and ribbon, as well as thin bundles and garlands of flowers and husks colored with pastels. The scale of this design is clearly not true to life and it is not unlikely that this drawing was made for a sample book of an upholsterer, to be shown to the customer as one of many different styles to choose from.
The design features an Orientalist motif with three exotic birds and a flowering tree within an ornamental frame. Branches of green leaves and flowers, possibly resembling roses or camelias, of various tones of pink, hang on the top and right side of the design. A horizontal branch marking the bottom third of the design contains two phoenix-like Oriental birds with frathers of bright colors: carmine, pink, yellow, blue and green are all present. Another of these exotic birds can be seen eating from a flower in the bottom center of the design. The bottom part of the design contains what could be a pasture, although there is nothing other than green ground, a slight path of sand color, and what seems to be a row of mountains in the back. No traces of sky are seen in the design, and the paper is left bare above the pasture and under the branches of the flowering tree. This Orientalist motif is placed inside an ornamental frame colored with red and gold, adorned with lozenges of blue color, and scattered leaves of green color, placed around an inner frame of gold color. The bottom of the frame contains tassels of gold color, resembling a tapestry.
The design features an Orientalist motif with three exotic birds and a flowering tree within an ornamental frame. Branches of green leaves and flowers, possibly resembling roses or camelias, of various tones of pink, hang on the top and right side of the design. A horizontal branch marking the bottom third of the design contains two phoenix-like Oriental birds with frathers of bright colors: carmine, pink, yellow, blue and green are all present. Another of these exotic birds can be seen eating from a flower in the bottom center of the design. The bottom part of the design contains what could be a pasture, although there is nothing other than green ground, a slight path of sand color, and what seems to be a row of mountains in the back. No traces of sky are seen in the design, and the paper is left bare above the pasture and under the branches of the flowering tree. This Orientalist motif is placed inside an ornamental frame colored with red and gold, adorned with lozenges of blue color, and scattered leaves of green color, placed around an inner frame of gold color. The bottom of the frame contains tassels of gold color, resembling a tapestry.
Artwork Details
- Title: Design for Wallpaper or Panel (?) with an Orientalist Motif with Three Phoenix-Like Exotic Birds with Colorful Feathers and a Flowering Tree within an Ornamental Frame with Tassels Resembling a Tapestry
- Designer: Anonymous, French, 19th century
- Date: 1870–1900 (?)
- Medium: Watercolor
- Dimensions: Sheet: 11 in. × 5 11/16 in. (27.9 × 14.5 cm)
- Classifications: Drawings, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
- Object Number: 49.50.178
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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