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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case SB5, Shelf SH6

Design

ca.1770-1790 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of two designs for a fan mount pasted on to a single page. Fans were fashionable personal accessories, carried by women as part of their dress. The design is for a fan mount, and was drawn about 1770-1790, possibly for an elite female client of the Court of Louis XV, King of France from 1715 to 1774, or of Louis XVI, King of France from 1774 until 1791, at Versailles, Paris. The design is possibly by the goldsmith Pierre-François Drais, active around 1761 to 1788. It is from an album of designs which date from about 1735 to 1820 and include snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached).

There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Drais, and Charles Ouizille (1744-1830) whose names appear on the first page of the album. This suggests that all the designs emanate from their workshops. Drais worked for the Court at Versailles as jeweller to both King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Ouizille worked in this capacity for Louis XVI. Most of the material dates from the period 1755-90.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Hand-coloured copperplate engraving on paper
Brief description
Design for a fan, possibly by Pierre-Francois Drais, Paris, ca.1770-1790
Physical description
Design for a fan mount stuck on top of the sheet of paper on which another design for a fan mount (25) is printed.
Dimensions
  • Height: 7.2cm
  • Width: 20.1cm
Marks and inscriptions
'Draiss [illegible inscription] execute ensemble' (Inscribed in pen and ink along the bottom of the design.)
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of Wartski Limited
Production
Attribution note: The print is a copperplate engraving made for the private use of goldsmiths. It could serve as an aid to producing further designs by modification in pencil, or could be used as a base to try out enamel or gold colours. It could also be shown to potential customers.
Subject depicted
Summary
This is one of two designs for a fan mount pasted on to a single page. Fans were fashionable personal accessories, carried by women as part of their dress. The design is for a fan mount, and was drawn about 1770-1790, possibly for an elite female client of the Court of Louis XV, King of France from 1715 to 1774, or of Louis XVI, King of France from 1774 until 1791, at Versailles, Paris. The design is possibly by the goldsmith Pierre-François Drais, active around 1761 to 1788. It is from an album of designs which date from about 1735 to 1820 and include snuffboxes, scent holders, watches and watch cases, spoons, fans and fan mounts, small swords, and chatelaines (ornamental chains, pins, or clasps usually worn at a woman's waist, to which trinkets, keys, purses, or other articles are attached).

There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Drais, and Charles Ouizille (1744-1830) whose names appear on the first page of the album. This suggests that all the designs emanate from their workshops. Drais worked for the Court at Versailles as jeweller to both King Louis XV and Louis XVI. Ouizille worked in this capacity for Louis XVI. Most of the material dates from the period 1755-90.
Bibliographic reference
Heike Zech, 'Designs for Gold Boxes in the Album of the Workshop of Jean Ducrollay and his Successors', in Going for Gold: craftsmanship and collecting of gold boxes, ed. Tessa Murdoch and Heike Zech (Sussex academic press, 2014).
Collection
Accession number
E.897:26-1988

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Record createdMay 31, 2006
Record URL
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