Object Image

Quarter of a Ceiling, Livre de Plafonds (Book of Ceilings)

Folio 11, plate 3 of series 7. Design for ceiling with one quarter depicted. Upper left (presumed central ceiling motif), lard medallion with 4 quadrants: moon and stars (upper left), wind with birds in flight (upper right), rain (lower left), wind (lower right). Below, at right angle, grotesque figure, a cartouche with a scene of a small boy and dog, a helmet and spear, a sun, signs of the zodiac, neptune holding a triton, leaning on a barrel of falling water. Design is linked together by cartouches and arabesques. S and C scrolls. Sections are connected with dotted lines, presumably as a guide for the stucco decoration.

Credit: Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council...

1740
Engraving on white laid paper
1921-6-282-11
Image and text © Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2020

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