Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"

Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"

Matthias Darly

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate 66 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 consists of a design for an arm chair, made up of a round seat with six legs, separated by thin rails with geometric designs, and with interlacing branches that form the back and arms. On the upper part of the back is a sort of canopy made with fabric.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "A New Book of Chinese Designs"Plate 66: Arm Chair, from "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.