Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Pillement, Jean, 1728-1808 and Perrins, Charles William Dyson, 1864-1958
- Abstract:
- 329 prints designed by Jean Pillement and etched by various printmakers. The etchings of chinoiserie, flowers, and rustic scenes were sources for designs on Worcester porcelain. The collection represents perhaps one-quarter of Pillement's printed designs.
- Extent:
- 329 prints (3 boxes)
- Language:
- French and Collection material in French and English.
- Preferred citation:
-
Jean Pillement etchings, ca. 1755-1775, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. P830005.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifap830005
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Jean Pillement Collection was originally owned by Charles William Dyson Perrins (1864-1958), an English book collector. Perrins had a strong interest in the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company, to whom he donated his fine collection of Worcester porcelain; this collection of etchings of chinoiserie, flowers, and rustic scenes represents sources for designs on Worcester porcelain. The collection contains perhaps one-quarter of Pillement's printed designs and includes the work of the following etchers: François-Antoine Aveline (1718-1780 or 1718-1762), Peter-Paul Benazech (ca.1730-after 1783), Pierre-Charles Canot (1710-1777), Edouard Gautier Dagoty, Louis Dagoty, Jeanne Deny (b.1749), William Elliot or Elliott (1727-1766), Hess, James Mason (1710-ca.1780), Christopher Norton, Simon François Ravenet the elder (1706-1774), James Roberts the elder (1725 or 1726-1799), William Sherlock (ca.1759-1806), and Thomas Vivares (b.1735). C. Leviez and Pierre-François Basan (1723-97) are frequently listed as publishers; as part of their large collections, they seem to have reissued prints published earlier, sometimes by others. Victor Marie Picot (1744-1802) and Jean Marie Delattre (1745-1840) also issued two prints.
The subjects of the sixteen suites of small etchings include chinoiserie fountains, tents, trophies, figures in landscapes and rococo flowers and ribbons. These motifs, probably derived from works by Pillement in other media, could easily be used as decorative sources for woven or printed textiles; painted, modeled, or lacquered paneling; engraving on silver; or painted porcelain. Two suites are etched in red and black in the crayon manner, imitating chalk drawings.
The subjects of the sixteen suites of medium-sized etchings include fantastic and naturalistic flowers; chinoiserie genre scenes (some of children playing games) and large single figures; and rustic European genre scenes, always outdoors and often along the road or near tumble-down houses or bridges.
The large etchings include one suite of six Chinese genre scenes and twenty rococo genre scenes, each with its own title. The genre scenes, often in pairs, depict the countryside or small villages, some with additional allegorical meaning related to the seasons or times of day. Some represent indigenous peasants picturesquely going about their business, while some portray gentlefolk who have appropriated rural costumes and landscapes for their own pleasures.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Jean Pillement, also known as Jean II Pillement and Jean-Baptiste Pillement, was the grandson of Jean Ier Pillement and son of Paul Pillement (b.1694), both painters. Pillement, the oldest of five children, was born in Lyon in 1728, studied in Paris with Daniel Sarrabat (1666-1748), a former student of Jean I Pillement. For a short time, Pillement worked at the Gobelins factory designing textile ornaments before beginning a lifetime of extensive travel around Europe. He visited Poland, where he became Painter to the King of Poland, Stanislas Auguste, and was much appreciated in London and Lisbon, where he visited several times. He spent time in France, Spain, Italy, Austria, England, and Portugal before retiring to Lyon, where he died, very poor, in 1808.
Pillement painted and drew genre scenes, chinoiserie, flowers, landscapes, and marines subjects in many media, always in a rococo style. He is known for his inventiveness and endless novelty in these genres, for the usefulness of his drawings for manufacturers, and especially for his chinoiserie scenes, which he abandoned after 1775. Various engravers in Paris and London - including Pillement's second wife, Anne Allen - etched suites and plates after his designs. Leviez published one of two large collections of prints after Pillement's designs in 1767 (130 prints), and Basan and Poignant published the other in 1772 (120 prints).
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired in 1983 through a dealer who acquired the collection from Charles William Dyson Perrins.
- Physical location:
- Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers.
- Terms of access:
-
Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.
- Preferred citation:
-
Jean Pillement etchings, ca. 1755-1775, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. P830005.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifap830005
- Location of this collection:
-
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
- Contact:
- (310) 440-7390