Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"

Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"

Matthias Darly

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Title page of 'A New Book of Chinese Designs', consisting of a title page, index, and 120 plates, etched and published in 1754 by the British caricaturist, printseller and ornamental engraver Matthew Darly, in collaboration with George Edwards. The book consists of a variety of ornamental and costume designs of Chinese inspiration, some of them copies of the original works (including the title). This plate, with a photostatic reproduction of the title page, consists of a title page with an inscription of the title, publishing and distribution information for the book: "A New Book of / Chinese Designs / Calculated to Improve the present Taste, / CONSISTING of / Figures, Buildings, & Furniture, Landkips, Birds, Beasts, Flowr.s / and Ornaments; &c. By / Mess.rs Edwards / AND / Darly. / Published according to Act of Parliament, & / Sold by he Authords, the first House on the right hand in Northumberland - / Court, in the Strand, & by the Print & Booksellers in Town & Country. / MDCCLIV..."

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Title page of "A New Book of Chinese Designs"

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.