Design for a Frieze with a Censer, Sphinxes and Acanthus Scrolls

Charles and Jayne Wrightsman’s eye for fine detail is captured in their acquisitions of studies for furniture, objets de vertu (small luxury items), and ornament. Among their earliest donations were drawings by the French sculptor and cabinetmaker Gilles Paul Cauvet. Throughout his career, Cauvet made designs for both monumental architecture and small, finely crafted objects. His rendering of a frieze with acanthus scrolls and sphinxes is an example of his delicate hand, as are the numerous drawings—from sketches to highly finished renderings—found in the Wrightsman album of designs for fountains, vases, wall panels, furniture, and ornament. The works correspond closely to Cauvet’s printed oeuvre, which was published in 1777 under the title Recueil d’ornemens à l’usage des jeunes artistes (Collection of Ornament Designs for Use by Young Artists).