English: Print, 1755, Jean Pillement (designer and engraver) V&A Museum no. 28639A

Techniques - Etching, ink on paper

Place - London, England

Dimensions - Height 37.5 cm (paper), Width 22.7 cm

Object Type - This print is an etching, made by using acid to burn lines into a metal plate that are then filled with ink. The plate is then pressed onto paper, which transfers the image.

Ever since the various East India Companies had begun to introduce porcelain and other exotic oriental goods to Europe in the 17th century, East Asia had fascinated Europeans.This print is the title-page to A New Book of Chinese Ornaments (1755), the first pattern book of Chinoiserie designs by the French painter and designer Jean-Baptiste Pillement (1728-1808). This print demonstrates how Pillement adapted traditional French Rococo ornament to his own idea of Chinese patterns suited to British taste. The curving foliage ladder is a typically French Rococo shape and recalls so-called Grotesques (decorative patterns full of sinuous lines, cloudy foliage, monkeys, sphinxes and other fancies) by the French master Jean Bérain (1639-1711). The wispy pavilion seemingly suspended in space, the monkey and cup of tea balanced on a branch, a Chinese man teetering on a C-shaped scroll, these are all characteristic of Pillement's work and suggest a fantastic, airy world, one that the artist delighted in portraying.

Time -

The elegant Chinoiserie style adopted by Pillement had already been developed in France by artists such as Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) and François Boucher (1703-1770). In Britain Pillement's work was very influential and widely used. His patterns have been identified on lacquered and marquetry furniture, silver, enamels, textiles, porcelain and earthenware.