French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)

French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)

Chevalier Henry Guillot

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This 1816 French calendar dates from just after the reinstatement of the French monarchy (1814) and signifies the return to the traditional calendar in France. This is emphasized by the focus of the illustrations of this calendar on the contemporary monarchs ruling Europe, starting with King Louis XVIII. The calendar is mounted double-sided onto a red leather and gold-tooled support. On the recto the months January through June are visible, and on the verso the months July through December. At the top of the mount, the French royal coat of arms has been added in gold tooling, suggesting that this may have been a royal gift. The way in which the calendar is mounted shows how ephemeral works on paper could have been used/been on display in a day-to-day setting.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)French Calendar for the Year 1816 (Galerie Generale des Souverains des Etats Européens)

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.