Early 19th Century French Neoclassical Grisaille Wallpaper Panel

The brilliant colors of this French nature morte are quite impressive, allowing the imagery to be seen crystal clear. Oil enhancements have been applied to this 20th-century transferred image to evoke similarities to the painting that it is after, which is currently housed in Le Louvre Museum in Paris. Our version is incredibly well-done and true to the Alexandre François Desportes original, which is entitled Game, Fruit, Flowers, and a Dog (1712). A variety of felled game (a rabbit and six birds) and a hunting rifle are displayed next to a stone fountain with a mythical creature mascaron water feature. The gadrooned basin is not filled with water, but rather a woven basket of blueberries next to a cluster of fruits including peaches and cherries (there is also a blue and white ceramic bowl full of peaches on a stone to the right of the fountain). Vibrant flowers in a wicker basket sit atop the thickly molded entablature of the cream-colored fountain. A pink rose bush grows on one side of the fountain, opposite from large, verdant bushes that obscure most of the blue sky. Laying beneath the fountain basin is a white hunting dog with black markings on its ears and face. Desportes was born in 1661 in Champigneulle, in northern France, later studying in Paris with the Flemish painter, Bernaerts. Initially, Desportes was a well-respected portrait painter, living in Poland during his mid-thirties to paint aristocrats such as King John III Sobieski. Upon the king’s death, Desportes returned to Paris and switched his focus to painting animals and floral arrangements. Both Louis XIV and Louis XIV commissioned Desportes to paint portraits of their favorite hunting dogs. Desportes would often join the kings on royal hunts, where he would travel with a notebook for still life sketches...

During the mid-1700s to early 1800s, the Neoclassical movement was prevalent in French furniture and art. Rectilinear forms and ornamentation inspired by ancient civilizations were f...

Attributed to William Griggs, circa 1880, this pair of lithographs in hand-painted black frames depict a set of Neoclassical Wedgwood amphora vases. Both prints are on cream paper, a...

Attributed to William Griggs, circa 1880, this pair of lithographs in hand-painted black frames depict a set of Neoclassical Wedgwood amphora vases. Both prints are on cream paper, a...

From the collection of Dorothy Waterhouse who operated Boston's Waterhouse Wallhangings. Wallpapers known as landscape figures were very popular in New England in the early 19th cent...

19th century French cherub wallpaper panels. In this collection, Irish, English and French wallpaper have been applied to a frame decorated with 18th and 19th-century Irish reproduction moldings taken from original castings. They have been coordinated gold leafed and painted to assimilate the specific wallpaper pattern. These pieces are representations of how the great rooms in Europe were decorated in the 18th and 19th century. Interi transforms European artifacts...

A 'Fritillary' pattern wallpaper panel designed by William Morris in 1885 and printed by Arthur Sanderson & Sons circa 1960 in a fabulous light green with mint colorway. William Morris’s wallpapers...

A 'Honeysuckle' pattern wallpaper panel designed by May Morris in 1883 for Morris & Co. Although best known for her embroideries and textiles, May Morris also designed some wallpapers at her father’s firm Morris & Co. ‘Honeysuckle’ is her most famous wallpaper design; it was also one of the most popular patterns among consumers and is produced even today. May would have been about 21 years old when she created this pattern, and while she may have received some assistance from her father, the confident design shows an understanding of composition and color theory on the level of an experienced designer. Dimensions: 52 3/8 in. H x 21 1/4 in. W (133.2 cm H x 54.2 cm W) Condition: Very good. Paper with slight warping. Some slight creasing along selvedge. Light crease in center approximately 2 3/4 inches long. Not examined out of frame. References: Smithsonian, Cooper Hewitt, 1980461176 William Morris Gallery...