Artwork

Paysage avec urne et ruine antique, projets de broderies de gilet, XVIIIème siècle

Paysage avec urne et ruine antique, projets de broderies de gilet, XVIIIème siècle is a drawing by Anonyme. It dates from 1750 and is held in the collection of the Palais Galliera - Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris.

About this work

Overview

Created around the middle of the eighteenth century, this anonymous drawing presents a compact, folded sheet designed as a reference for garment decoration. The work, now part of the Museum of Ethnography’s collection, measures only a few centimeters and combines a decorative border with a miniature landscape scene, illustrating the practical yet artistic approach of period textile design.

Subject & Meaning

Within the central vignette, a small classical ruin—an urn beside a broken column—anchors a tranquil landscape populated by a basket of fruit and fluttering birds. The surrounding border is filled with stylized blossoms and foliage, suggesting an idealized harmony between nature and antiquity that would have appealed to contemporary tastes for pastoral and archaeological motifs in fashion.

Technique & Style

The drawing employs fine, linear hatching and delicate washes of pastel pink, blue, and green, creating a soft tonal range suited to embroidery translation. The meticulous placement of each floral element and the careful rendering of architectural fragments reflect the precision required for pattern makers to reproduce the design on fabric.

History & Provenance

Attributed to an unknown hand, the sheet dates to circa 1750, a period when pattern books for textile embellishment were widely circulated in Europe. It entered the Museum of Ethnography’s holdings through a 20th‑century acquisition of decorative arts, where it serves as an example of the intersection between visual art and applied craft in the Enlightenment era.