Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'

Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'

Jean François Cuvilliés the Elder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two designs for commodes, placed one above the other. Each commode is combined with the outline of the entablature right below. According to the full title of this series, the commodes were to be executed in white with gilt mouldings.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'Designs for Two Commodes , from 'Livre de differents dessein de Comodes'

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.