Design for a (Silver?) Console Table

Anonymous, French, 18th century

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nature had always been an important source of inspiration for the design of patterns and decorations. In some periods and cultures plant motifs were kept close to their natural form when applied in this manner, whereas in others they were subject to various degrees of abstraction. During the Rococo period in particular, the larger part of ornament and interior design was inspired by organic and vegetal forms. Many different types of objects, such as brackets, chandeliers and decorative moldings were shaped like (parts of) plants. Although the degree to which this was done lessened from the second half of the 18th century onwards, the concept remained in use throughout the following centuries. This design shows a particularly literal idea of adapting nature to furniture in which the table leg seems to have sprung up from the earth to support its entablature. The materials in which the table would be executed would of course play an important role in the degree to which this sense of absolute naturalism was maintained.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art