Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Italian fashion for Eastern decoration, manifest in the present pair of mirrors, began with the expansion of trade with China, leading to intensified taste for chinoiserie throughout Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Designers and architects to the courts created interiors that drew heavily on exotic styles based on the ceramics, furniture, and paintings imported from the East, and by the 18th century these items were being produced in a number of European centers.
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In her recent book, Penwork: A Decorative Phenomenon, Noël Riley explores the techniques, influences, and social contexts from which the art developed. An invention of the 17th century, penwork, was a technique of painting initially meant to imitate the lacquer of the Far East but which grew to include painted simulation of ivory inlay, scagliola and papier-mâché.1 We were excited to see a photo of one of our cabinets in the Chinoiserie chapter of the book on page 129!
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