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Untitled

Cowtan & Son

1812

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Romanticism Early 19th Century Architectural

Dominant colour

Untitled is a 1812 by Cowtan & Son, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Cowtan & Son
When & what style?: 1812 · Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This image shows three small sketches of ornate architectural details. The top sketch is a long, narrow frieze with a row of small circles and a repeating pattern below. The middle one has a series of rounded arches with a simple border. The bottom sketch looks like swirling, leaf-like carvings. On the right, there’s a vertical strip of gold leaf designs on a pink background. These sketches look like they’re studying how to decorate buildings. The gold leaf strip suggests they might have been used for fancy interiors or furniture. Next, check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more examples of this kind of detailed design work.

The story of this work

Overview

A wallpaper border designed by Cowtan & Son in 1812 features a continuous pattern of a leafy stem in gold against a pink background, produced as a woodblock print on paper. The piece was donated by Mr. A. C. Cowtan in memory of his father, Arthur Barnard Cowtan, OBE.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Cowtan & Son

Cowtan & Son turned out finely detailed prints in the first decades of the 1800s, selling to collectors who wanted crisp city views and portraits turned into black-and-white sheets.

See the richer artist page