Pear-shaped ornament design with a female term and grotesque motifs on a black ground
Engraving, part of a series of 7 pear-shaped ornament designs with grotesque motifs executed on black grounds, created by Étienne Delaune in Strasbourg in 1573. The pear shapes and size of the prints are similar to those of the fashionable jewelry of the time, suggesting that this set was very likely intended as a model for silver and goldsmiths. The design is made up of a winged female term under a small tent, in the center of the print, and surrounded by scrolling motifs, cornucopias, and thin bundles and garlands of fruits and leaves. The tent above the term is framed by two scrolls that end on wolf heads, and it is flanked above by two birds. The term extends her arms to the sides, wrapping her hands around thin pieces of fabric from which hang bundles of fruits and leaves, hanging at the level of two ewers that stand to her sides. In the lower part of the print are two fantastic birds, surrounded by more scrolling motifs.
Artwork Details
- Title: Pear-shaped ornament design with a female term and grotesque motifs on a black ground
- Artist: Etienne Delaune (French, Orléans 1518/19–1583 Strasbourg)
- Date: 1573
- Medium: Engraving: first state
- Dimensions: Sheet: 2 9/16 × 2 3/16 in. (6.5 × 5.5 cm)
Plate: 2 3/8 × 1 7/8 in. (6 × 4.8 cm) - Classifications: Prints, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1922
- Object Number: 22.105.15
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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