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"Cutting
A
Lacca
up
Povera
Berchems,
Watteaus,
and
Audrans":
Secretary
at
The
Metropolitan
Art
Museum
DANIELLE
0.
of
KISLUK-GROSHEIDE
Associate Curator,European Sculpture and Decorative Arts,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mademoiselle Charlotte Aisse (1693-
1733) wrote from Paris to her friend and
confidante, Madame Calandrini, in Geneva: "We
are here at the height of a new passion for cutting up
colored engravings.... Everyone, great and small, is
snipping away.These cuttings are pasted on sheets of
cardboard and then varnished. They are made into
wall panels, screens, and fire boards. There are books
and engravings costing up to 200 livres; women are
mad enough to cut up engravings worth loo livres
apiece. If this fashion continues, they will cut up
Raphaels."' In her letter Mademoiselle Aisse referred
to the decorative technique of decoupage, or
which consists of cutting out and coloring
decoupure,
prints, later to be pasted onto a specially prepared sur-
face and then varnished. Several pieces embellished in
this manner can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum.
Among them are two Venetian pieces, a magnificent
secretary dating to about 1730-35, the subject of this
article, and a mid-eighteenth-century candle stand of
carved, gessoed, painted, and gilded walnut and pine
(Figures 1-3). The top of the candle stand has a land-
scape with figures and imaginary animals that are not
painted, as has long been thought, but are glued-on
images cut out from engravings.2 In addition, the
Museum has recently acquired a yellow-and-redpapier-
mache box of about 1755-60, which is completely cov-
ered with pasted-on genre scenes, horsemen, putti,
architectural structures, flowers, butterflies, and an
endearing winged dragon (Figures 4, 5). The incurved
border of the lid is decorated with a flowing ribbon
intertwined with floral festoons all around. These
ornamental images are painted red, green, and yel-
low.3 Although small decorative objects-such as this
box, which was most likely made in Venice as well-
must have been quite popular during the eighteenth
century, few survive, thus making it a rare example.
N
1727
Decoupage aimed at imitating Asian lacquer,4 but
the distinction between this process and a similar one,
japanning, is not always clear. The many layers of
applied varnish can make it difficult to ascertain
whether the decoration was painted on a particular
object or actually consists of prints that were cut out
and glued on. Decoupage was probably first practiced
toward the end of the seventeenth century5 and
became especially popular during the 1720S both in
France and in other European countries6 where it was
used continuously throughout the eighteenth century.
In fact, decoupage appears never to have gone out of
fashion entirely and, judging by the number of recent
publications, seems to be enjoying a resurgence of
interest today.7
Manuals containing step-by-step descriptions of the
technique and useful formulas for varnishes were
already published during the eighteenth century, for
example, one byJohann Martin Teuber in Germany.In
his 1740 treatise on turning,8 Teuber included a sup-
that was preceded by a listing
plement on Laquirkunst
of his mostly aristocratic clients who received instruc-
tion in this art form. Practical information and pat-
terns were also published in England between 1758
and 1762 by Robert Sayer, a London print and map
seller. Despite the fact that this book was entitled The
LadiesAmusement; Whole ofJapanning MadeEasy,
Art
or,
the instructions, particularly those about the decora-
tion, refer to a decoupage technique rather than to
the art ofjapanning:
The severalObjectsyou intend for Use must be neatly cut
round with Scisars, or the small Point of a Knife; those
Figures must be brush'd over on the Back with strong
or
Gum-water, thin Paste, made by boiling Flour in Water:
then take the Objects singly, and with a Pair of small
Pliers, fix them on the Place intended, being careful to
let no Figure seem tumbling, and let the Buildings pre-
serve an exact upright...
; and when properly plac'd, lay
? The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1996
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 31
over your Prints a Piece of clean Paper, and with your
The notes for this article begin on page 95.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Metropolitan Museum Journal
®
www.jstor.org
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Hand gently press them even, and when dry ... then pro-
ceed to varnish ... at least seven Times, tho' if you var-
nish it Twelveit will be still better....9
In Italy the technique of decoupage is known as lacca
be a true misnomer, considering the amount of minute
work involved. In fact, a long letter by a certain M.
Constantin dated December
15, 1727, explaining
the
contrafatta, or lacca povera.'0 The latter term appears to
Figure
2.
Candle stand, Italian (Venice), ca. 1750. Carved, gessoed,
painted, and gilded walnut and pine, H. 91.8 cm, Diam. of top 33 cm.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1948, 48.179
art of decoupage to an unidentified marquise,l indi-
cates that this pastime could be very expensive:
"Tapestryand knotting are no longer in question; one
has left behind spinning wheels and shuttles; one
wants nothing but decoupage. kinds of furnishings
All
suitable to this technique are being decorated;
screens, folding screens, wall hangings, ceilings, the
tops of coaches, and sedan chairs; it is being put every-
where. This fashion has made the prices of illustra-
tions and prints rise to an extraordinary level; and
although there are only a few dealers who sell or have
these prints colored, their shops are never empty."
M. Constantin also indicated that the hobby was not
exclusively practiced by ladies: "As soon as a gentle-
man arrives at a lady's house, an image is given to him,
he then takes his scissors from his pocket and begins
to cut. It is a new and excellent quality to know how to
make decoupage." Despite the fact that M. Constantin
explained the technique in great detail to his pupil,
he was critical about the medium. He warned her
against using it too much, fearing that the passion for
decoupage would not continue long in a country
where novelties were so passionately embraced. In
addition, M. Constantin remarked that although "the
art of decoupage is easy, in reality it costs more than it
is worth," but that "at least some workmen will earn
something with it and it keeps idle people occupied."
He concluded by expressing the hope that once one
had acquired the taste for this pastime, it would be
perfected and therefore become more useful and
valuable.
To satisfy the great demand for suitable images, spe-
cial prints were published for decoupage purposes
that generally included a variety of motifs in different
sizes to suit everyone's needs.12 The firm of Giovanni
Antonio Remondini
(1643-1711)
and his successors
Figure 3. Top, detail of Figure
2
in Bassano, Italy, advertised prints in their catalogues
from 1751 on: "to be cut out and pasted on fruit dishes,
boxes, and for the decoration of cabinets."13In fact, it
is possible that the scenes used on the Museum's
papier-mache box were published by that firm
(Figures 4, 5). Similar images, known in German as
were published by the engravers
Ausschneidebogen,
Martin Engelbrecht (1684-1756)
in Augsburg
83
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for this purpose, as I will demonstrate below. All kinds
of pieces, large and small, were decorated with cut-out
prints. Most often mentioned are chamber and fire
screens,17 but entire rooms are also known to have
been embellished with
decoupage.18
Whereas some of
the smaller objects-trays, boxes, toilet sets, and
stands-may have been decorated by amateurs, coaches
and larger pieces of furniture, such as the Metropolitan
Museum's secretary, were mostly the work of skilled
craftsmen.
Figure 4. Box, Italian (probably Venice), ca. 1755-60. Papier-
mache, painted, varnished, and decorated with decoupage prints,
lined with decorative papers, 13 x
22.4
x 14 cm. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Purchase, Gift ofJ. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange,
1995, 1995.135
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Figure 6. Engraving from series of decorative motifs published by
Martin Engelbrecht (1684-1756), Augsburg. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha
Whittelsey Fund, 54.635.12 (3)
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Figure 5. Right side, detail of Figure 4
(Figure 6) and Johann Christoph Weigel (ca. 1654-
1726) in Nuremberg. These highly esteemed German
prints were sold and also reprinted in France.14
Decorative prints by French artists were available as
well. The Mercurede France of November 1727, for
instance, included an advertisement for six engravings
by Louis Crepy fils (born ca. 1680), published by
Edme-Fran;ois Gersaint (ca. 1696-1750) in Paris,
which were based on a screen painted by Antoine
Watteau (1684-1721) (Figures 7, 8). It was suggested
that "these gallant scenes on a white ground would
make excellent designs for decoupage, the technique
used by the ladies nowadays to make such pretty pieces
of furniture."15Although this advertisement is often
referred to in the literature on the topic,16 it has not
been shown that these engravings were actually used
84
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Figures 7, 8. Engravings from a set of six by Louis Crepyfils (born
ca. 1680) after Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) from Oeuvres
des
les tableauxet desseinsdefeu Antoine Watteau,
etampes
graviesd'apres
160 II, 16i II. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr.
pls.
and Mrs. Herbert N. Straus, 1928, 28.113 (3)
*
Consisting of two parts, the secretary's upper structure
is fitted with two arched and mirrored doors that
enclose thirteen small drawers flanking a central
niche. Its lower part has a sloping fall front, which con-
ceals six tiny drawers, and three large drawers below.
Resting on four carved feet, the secretary is crowned
by a scrolling pediment with three vase-shaped finials
on the top.
The wood surface of the secretary has been painted
blue-green over a thin coat of gesso. The layers of
applied varnish have yellowed over the years, giving
the piece a yellow-green appearance.20 Several parts,
such as the moldings, finials, and feet, were gilded,
and the outlines and foliate scrolls and husk motifs on
the doors, drawers, fall front, and sides are painted on.
The decoupage decoration, covering nearly the entire
surface of the secretary, shows a wide range of subjects
(Figures 1, 9). Among these are hunting and arcadian
scenes, courting couples and ladies in fashionable
dress, large flower vases and birds, a harbor scene and
a shipwreck on the secretary's front and sides. Gods
and goddesses as well as delightful chinoiseries grace
-
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Figure 9. Secretary, Figure i, with open doors
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Figure 1 Drawers, detail of Figure 1
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Figure o. Crest, detail of Figure 1
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The Venetian secretary entered the Museum's col-
lections in 1925 (Figures 1, 9). Described in an article
in the MuseumBulletinof that same year and included
in various later publications, the secretary has
nonetheless never received the detailed examination
it deserves.'9 Influenced by the English bureau-
bookcase, this type of writing cabinet was introduced
in Italy during the first half of the eighteenth century.
.'^***' -.I
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Figure 12. Lower left side of
Figure 1
Figure 13. Lower right side of
Figure 1
85

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