Anne Allen, engraver (Jean Baptiste Pillement, designer)
English, active in Paris 1790s (French painter, designer, 1728-1808)
Untitled, from Nouvelle suite de Cahiers arabesques chinoise a l'usage des dessinateurs et des Pientres
About 1798
Etching on laid paper
7 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches (19.685 x 13.97 centimeters)
Purchase: SOTA Print Fund, 1995.
1995.025.004

Though decorative arts inspired by the Far East had been growing increasingly popular in Europe since Marco Polo wrote of his travels in the thirteenth century, printed pattern books greatly contributed to a vogue for such designs (called chinoiserie) in the middle of the 1700s. Artists such as Jean Pillement made designs in the rococo style that could be adapted for use on furniture, porcelain, wallpapers, and textiles. This etching is from a suite of Pillement's designs that were etched and printed by his wife, Anne Allen.