Design for Toile de Jouy: La Marchande d'Amours (The Cupid Seller)
date: label: Date
content: 1817–18
name: label: Designer
content: Hippolyte Le Bas, (French, 1782–1867)
notes: label: Catalogue Status
content: Research in Progress
label: Description
content: Printed cotton textile design with four vertical rows of cameo medallions (octagonal, oval, circular, hexagonal, etc.) each displaying a classicized scene against a pattern of rosettes within a diamond grid. Above center to the left, the "Merchant of Love" (which gives the piece its name) is in the octagonal medallion: a seated woman, at the right, grasps a cupid by its wings to remove it from its cage to show to the two women at the left. This medallion is surmounted by a pair of swans; one holding a panpipe, the other a triangle on a ribbon dangling from its beak. Beneath, is a "cameo relief" of the infant Hercules riding a lion. At the upper right, a cupid sails on a boat made of his quiver and bow, with arrows for oars, and his torch as the mast. At the lower right (within a hexagon), Venus consoles the youth Cupid, while Time breaks his bow. At the left, a butterfly (symbol of Psyche), above a flower basket, which is above a pair of embracing cupids. To the right of lower center: fragmented image of Cupid and Psyche embracing. Medallion dimensions (including respective borders): Cupid Seller 19.5 x 26 cm (7 5/8 x 10 3/16 in.); Time breaking Cupid's bow 19.5 x 26 cm (7 5/8 x 10 3/16 in.); Cupid on "Bow/boat" 16.5 x 22 cm (6 1/2 x 8 5/8 in.); infant Hercules/lion 17.2 x 22 cm (6 3/4 x 8 5/8 in.); Cupid sharpening arrows 13 cm diameter (5 1/16 in.); butterfly, without border, c. 4.5 cm diameter (1 3/4 in. diameter).
setName: label: See more items in
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
label: See more items in
content: Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Museum purchase from Drawings and Prints Council Fund
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2002-5-1
objectType: label: Type
content: textile designs
label: Object Name
content: Drawing
label: Type
content: Drawing
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash over traces of graphite on cream laid paper mounted on board
label: Dimensions
content: Image: 54.6 x 92.4 cm (21 1/2 x 36 3/8 in.); mount, 56.2 x 94 (22 1/8 x 37 in.).