Mise-en-Carte (Point-Paper)
Germain Frères
1760–1769
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor over etching in black ink on cream laid paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 42.5 × 52.8 cm (16 3/4 × 20 13/16 in.); Plate: 44 × 53 cm (17 3/8 × 20 7/8 in.); Sheet: 45 × 55.7 cm (17 3/4 × 21 15/16 in.)
- Genre
- design
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Styles
Tags
gridsinkdrawing (image-making)watercolor painting (technique)laid paperflowersetchingfloral motifsgarmentaccessory - paper designwatercolordesignfoliagepaper (fiber product)18th Century
About
Designs for silk weaving were drawn by professional artists who had often trained in flower painting, a skill that could be deployed for the decoration of objects besides textiles. The designs were painted on the point paper grid, which then served as a guide to the person mounting the threads on the loom. The artists’ names do not appear on these technical drawings; only the companies that commissioned the designs and wove the silk are identified.
