Late 18th - early 19th century

Floral Design

The red underdrawing of this floral design has been overlaid with finer black lines. Close inspection reveals that the black lines have been pricked with a pin to create a stencil that could be used to transfer the drawing from one sheet of paper to another. While the ultimate purpose of this dense image of flowers and birds is unknown, it would likely have been transferred to a papier-mâché board and then painted and lacquered. It would have formed either part of a book cover or a mirror case in the form of a book cover.