Design thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case SB5, Shelf SH6

Design

mid eighteenth century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Design depicting ornamental representations of gardening tools of the mid eighteenth century by an anonymous designer drawn in the 1750s from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuff boxes, 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. The album is bound in red morocco and the boards are stamped in gilt with the arms, now partly erased, of a member of the Bourbon family, probably Louis-Henri, Prince of Condé.

There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Pierre- François Drais (active 1761-1788), 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
Pen and ink and watercolour on paper
Brief description
Design form album of designs by Ouizille, French, eighteenth century.
NOT TO BE ISSUED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE HEAD OF DESIGNS
Physical description
Design depicting an ornamental representation of gardening tools on a small piece of paper mounted with designs 103, 104, and 106 on a rectangular piece of paper stuck into the album.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4.1cm
  • Width: 5.4cm
Credit line
Bought with the assistance of contributions from Wartski Limited.
Subject depicted
Summary
Design depicting ornamental representations of gardening tools of the mid eighteenth century by an anonymous designer drawn in the 1750s from an album of designs which date from about 1735-1820 and includes those for snuff boxes, 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. The album is bound in red morocco and the boards are stamped in gilt with the arms, now partly erased, of a member of the Bourbon family, probably Louis-Henri, Prince of Condé.

There is a close relationship between the contents of the album and known work by three Parisian goldsmiths, Jean Ducrollay (1710-1787), Pierre- François Drais (active 1761-1788), 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.897:106-1988

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Record createdMay 31, 2006
Record URL
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