Drawing, Design for a Wallpaper or Textile

Sarah Cooper Hewitt; Eleanor Garnier Hewitt

1815–1840

brush and purple gouache on thick white laid paper

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

A decorative design in dark red ink features scrolling acanthus leaves, grape clusters, and other ornate scrollwork on a light tan paper. The drawing appears to be a study for a wallpaper or textile pattern. A neo-Rococo escutcheon composed of scrolls, rocaille and plant motifs. Intended to be connected in a vertical row by scrolls with leaves and a bunch of seeds. Verso: Blotter of a crayon sketch of an escutcheon; graphite lines. Gift of Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt