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See more objects with the tag flowers, plants, grotesques, laughter, acanthus, handle, faces, hardware, keyhole, doorknob, masks, harpies, grotesque, beasts, ornament print, locks.

This and 21 other objects are a part of a set whose first object is Album, Ornament Designs.

Object Timeline

1920

  • We acquired this object.

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Print, Ornament Designs for Metal Objects

This is a Print. It was overseen (as design director) by Hugues Brisville and print maker: Jean Bérain the Elder and published by Nicolas Langlois and Hugues Brisville. It is dated 1662 and we acquired it in 1920. Its medium is engraving on laid paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.



Moustache tips and sideburn curls twist into the scalloped shape of a doorknob, formed from laughing faces with leafy beards. Arabesquing animals and acanthus leaves elevate everyday hardware—locks, handles, and brackets—in these designs from a series by Brisville. Bérain the Elder, who engraved this print, would later become known for his own arabesque designs.

This object was donated by Advisory Council. It is credited Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.

  • Print, Ornament Design
  • engraving on laid paper.
  • Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
  • 1921-6-261-14
  • Print, Ornament Design
  • engraving on laid paper.
  • Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
  • 1921-6-261-3

Our curators have highlighted 10 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Bracket
  • Gift of Jacob H. Schiff.
  • 1904-20-250
  • Print, Title page
  • engraving on laid paper.
  • Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
  • 1921-6-261-1

Its dimensions are

H x W: 20.5 × 15.2 cm (8 1/16 in. × 6 in.) Platemark: 16.5 × 12 cm (6 1/2 × 4 3/4 in.)

It is signed

Lettered lower left, in plate: Berain ; Lettered lower center, in plate: H. Brisseville. Invent.

It is inscribed

Printed upper right, in plate: 11

Cite this object as

Print, Ornament Designs for Metal Objects; Print Maker: Jean Bérain the Elder (French, 1640–1711); Design Director: Hugues Brisville (French, active ca. 1663); Published by Nicolas Langlois; France; engraving on laid paper; H x W: 20.5 × 15.2 cm (8 1/16 in. × 6 in.) Platemark: 16.5 × 12 cm (6 1/2 × 4 3/4 in.); Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council; 1921-6-261-11

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18233283/ |title=Print, Ornament Designs for Metal Objects |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>