Chinoiserie with a woman holding cymbals, from Suite de Figures Chinoises. . .Tiré du Cabinet de Mr. d'Azaincourt, plate 4
Original title: Chinoiserie with a woman holding cymbals, from Suite de Figures Chinoises. . .Tiré du Cabinet de Mr. d'Azaincourt (Series of Chinoiserie Figures. . .From the Chambers of Mr. d'Azaincourt), plate 4
kurzbeschreibung
Fourth plate from Jean Pierre Louis Laurent Hoüel's Suite de Figures Chinoises, presenting a woman in Chinese dress who holds a cymbal. Made sometime between 1755 and 1776, the date left unrecorded, the sheet combines etching with engraving. She stands in the foreground, while a rural stretch with a tower and an arched gateway opens behind her.
Description
A long, richly patterned gown wraps the figure, one hand raised with the cymbal. Her hair is dressed high and trimmed with flowers. Trees, shrubs, a tower and an arched gateway fill the distance. Grey tones carry the monochrome image; delicate lines and hatching build up contours and textures. Light falls evenly, without hard shadows, and the arrangement reads as symmetrical.
Context
The series was engraved after designs in the collection of Monsieur d'Azaincourt, which gathered chinoiserie subjects, a genre much in favour in eighteenth-century France. Hoüel worked at a time when European artists often idealised and freely reinterpreted East Asian themes. The set was aimed at well-off buyers with a taste for decorative prints of an exotic cast.
Impact
Careful linework and a calm, symmetrical layout give the sheet an elegant, balanced presence. Exotic touches such as the flowers in her hair and the landscape elements summon an idyllic faraway place, exactly the mood chinoiseries were meant to evoke.
Technique
Etching, finished with engraving, produces the precise lines and hatching seen here. The method allows fine gradations of grey, used for the fabric patterns and the landscape details.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)