Artwork
Suite of Vases: Plate 15
Suite of Vases: Plate 15 is a print by the Baroque artist Jacques François Saly. It dates from 1746 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 1996.229.16
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
About this work
Look up Jacques François Saly (French, 1717–1776) if you want to see how his sculpting eye shaped his prints.
This print shows a single vase with swirling leaves and flowers. The design feels fresh for its time, less stiff than typical 1700s art. Saly trained as a sculptor, not a printmaker, which explains why the vase looks three-dimensional.
This was one of 30 etchings made in Rome. Back in Paris, the series helped spark a new interest in clean, classical shapes.
Look up Jacques François Saly (French, 1717–1776) if you want to see how his sculpting eye shaped his prints.
Overview
Suite of Vases: Plate 15 is one of a group of thirty etchings created by Jacques François Saly while he was a student at the Académie de France in Rome. The image presents a single ornamental vase surrounded by stylised foliage and blossoms, rendered with a sense of depth that reflects the artist’s sculptural training rather than conventional printmaking conventions of the early 1700s.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a vase whose sinuous leaves and floral motifs suggest a revival of classical ornamentation. By presenting the vessel in a fluid, almost three‑dimensional manner, Saly emphasizes the harmony between form and decoration, aligning the work with the emerging taste for restrained, antiquarian aesthetics that would come to define mid‑century Neoclassicism.
Technique & Style
Executed as an etching, the plate displays a light, sketch‑like line quality that departs from the heavier, more rigid draughtsmanship typical of the period. Saly’s background as a sculptor informs the treatment of volume, giving the vase a palpable sense of mass and curvature, while the surrounding foliage is rendered with a lively, almost spontaneous brush that softens the overall composition.
History & Provenance
After completing the series in Rome, Saly returned to Paris, where the Suite of Vases was announced in a publication that praised the prints as evidence of his inventive capacity and artistic liberty. The collection quickly became a reference point for decorative designers, helping to fuel a broader enthusiasm for classical motifs in French decorative arts during the mid‑eighteenth century.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Jacques François Joseph Saly, also known as Jacques Saly (20 June 1717 – 4 May 1776), French-born sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Malta.
