Chinoiserie with a woman playing a gong, from Suite de Figures Chinoises. . .Tiré du Cabinet de Mr. d'Azaincourt (Series of Chinoiserie Figures. . .From the Chambers of Mr. d'Azaincourt), plate 6
Original title: Chinoiserie with a woman playing a gong, from Suite de Figures Chinoises. . .Tiré du Cabinet de Mr. d'Azaincourt (Series of Chinoiserie Figures. . .From the Chambers of Mr. d'Azaincourt), plate 6
kurzbeschreibung
Where the other sheets in this series present their Chinese figures in pairs or groups, this etching and engraving by Jean Pierre Louis Laurent Hoüel, made between 1755 and 1776, gives the stage to a single woman striking a gong. The motif belongs to the suite of chinoiserie figures engraved after designs by François Boucher, and it stands as a telling example of the eighteenth-century taste for chinoiserie.
Description
She stands front and centre with the gong held before her, raising a beater to sound it. A long, heavily folded gown wraps her body, its shadows modelling the cloth, while her hair is piled high and trimmed with ornaments. Trees, shrubs and a house form the backdrop, settling into a quiet, idyllic landscape. The arrangement reads as symmetrical: the woman occupies the middle, the setting frames her. Along the lower margin run the inscriptions 'F. Boucher del.' and 'J. Houel sculp.'
Context
The series was engraved after designs by François Boucher, a leading master of the Rococo, and executed by Jean Pierre Louis Laurent Hoüel. As the title indicates, the set belonged to the collection of Monsieur d'Azaincourt. Chinoiseries were hugely popular in eighteenth-century Europe and testified to a fascination with East Asian culture, often in invented or idealised images.
Impact
The calm, idyllic scene gives off an exotic yet harmonious mood. Monochrome greys and diffuse light produce an elegant graphic effect characteristic of the printmaking of the period.
Technique
Etching and engraving on paper are combined here. The process allows fine lines and shading that capture the folds of the gown and the details of the landscape precisely. The plate measures 22.5 × 17.4 cm, the sheet 34.8 × 26 cm.
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Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)