Trade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, London

Trade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, London

Joseph Champion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Trade card for John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work in St. Paul's Church Yard. The card is characterized by a simple double-line frame. The top of the card is decorated with a vignette, consisting of a small cartouche with Brown's shop sign of the three chairs and walnut tree. To the left and right are examples of different kinds of mirrors supplied by Brown. Text is placed below the vignette. Both the vignette and text were designed by Master penman Joseph Champion, although likely executed by an intermediary engraver. The preparatory drawing for the vignette is also in the Met collection. The trade card was used as a bill and has writing on the recto and verso. The verso includes the date April 1, 1761.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Trade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, LondonTrade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, LondonTrade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, LondonTrade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, LondonTrade card of John Brown, Chairs and Cabinet-work, at the Three Cover'd Chairs & Walnut Tree, St. Paul's Church Yard, London

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.