Nouveau Livre de Desseins contenant les Ouvrages de la Joaillerie inventes et dessines par L. van der Cruycen en 1770, No. 4

Rectangular sheet of paper containing an engraving with four designs for aigrettes, two designs for small brooches, three designs for drop earrings, and five designs for medallions that forms the fourth page for a book of jewelry designs invented and created by L. van der Cruycen in 1770. The book, titled "Nouveau Livre de Desseins contenant les Ouvrages de la Joaillerie..." (New Book of Designs containing the Jewelry Works), contains a series of jewelry designs displaying a serendipitous flavor, with asymmetrical forms, "rocaille" and stylized natural motifs, and heavily decorated with flowers, ribbons and tassels, thus representing the taste of the Rococo style, which was fashionable in France and Europe during the eighteenth century. The designs present elaborately carved forms that were particularly sought after during the third quarter of the eighteenth century, which were to be accomplished by skilled artisans who would work out the decorations by hand. The use of various categories of jewelry design in one single sheet suggests an economical use of space for the publication of the book, which was probably intended for distribution among goldsmiths and silversmiths that would reproduce the objects from the drawings. It is also likely that many of the designs are real-sized.
The designs for aigrettes all contain large feathers arranged in different styles with palmettes, and are decirated by thin garlands and small bundles of flowers and leaves. The first one contains a hat motif decorated with small flowers, and the other three contain bowknots of different styles. The second aigrette contains a group of seven smaller feathers that forms part of the palmette motif.
One of the small brooches is a basket with a tiny bundle of flowers and leaves, and the other is a stem with two fruit motifs, possibly oranges, with flowers.
The first drop earring consists of two rosettes made up of round motifs and a teardrop, possibly intended to be accomplished by precious or semi-precious stones in the manufactured earring, joined together by a bundle of small flowers and leaves. The second drop earring has a round pearl and a teardrop-shaped stone, both framed by two interlacing ribbons, which are joined together by a bowshape ribbon motif decorated with a small pearl in the middle. The third drop earring consists of a rosette with a pearl in the middle with a bowknot ribbon decorated with a small pearl from which a tear-drop motif, accomplished by ribbon-like strips possibly to be made out of metal, hangs.
The medallion designs all consist of an oval-like shape, shaded to illustrate some volume, framed by different garlands of leaves, flowers, fruits and ribbons. The first design contains a thin garland of leaves with two small flowers and two small bowknots above and below the oval motif, the second contains a garland of small leaves and flowers, the third contains a garland of leaves and fruit motifs, the fourth contains a garland of leaves with a scrolling ribbon, and the fifth contains two branches of leaves that frame the oval motif.