Great Example of Chinoiserie Penwork

July 17 2009, 4:10pm

In her recent book, Penwork: A Decorative Phenomenon, Noël Riley explores the techniques, influences, and social contexts from which the art developed. An invention of the 17th century, penwork, was a technique of painting initially meant to imitate the lacquer of the Far East but which grew to include painted simulation of ivory inlay, scagliola and papier-mâché.1 We were excited to see a photo of one of our cabinets in the Chinoiserie chapter of the book on page 129!