The “Salad Oil Style” of Jan Toorop
Selection of Dutch artist Jan Toorop’s distinctive works, designs featuring highly stylised figures, embedded in complex curvilinear designs, with his dynamic line …more
Design
The Model Book of Calligraphy (1561–1596)
Pages from a remarkable book, the result of a collaboration across many decades between a master scribe, the Croatian-born Georg Bocskay, and Flemish artist Joris H…more
Aratea: Making Pictures with Words in the 9th Century
Some of the earliest examples of calligrams found in a 9th-century astronomical manuscript on the constellations….more
A Selection from The MET’s Public Domain Collection, Now Free from All Restrictions
We present our highlights from the lesser known corners of The Metropolitan Museum’s public domain collection, now made available free from restrictions on use….more
The Human Alphabet
Collection of alphabets comprised of the human body….more
Pages From an Illustrated Catalogue of Period Ornaments (ca. 1919)
The Illustrated Catalogue of Period Ornaments Cast in Composition and Wood Fibre for Woodwork-Furniture features samples of wood carvings offered by the Decorators …more
Max Brückner’s Collection of Polyhedral Models (1900)
Collection of stellated and uniform polyhedra belonging to Max Brückner , a German geometer….more
Album of Seaweed Pictures (1848)
Fine specimen of a 19th-century seaweed album, in which marine algae is rendered into designs, bouquets, and even sometimes intricate little scenes….more
Colour Analysis Charts by Emily Noyes Vanderpoel (1902)
Colour analysis charts of various objects, such as Assyrian tiles, Persian rugs, a case containing an Egyptian mummy, and even a teacup and saucer — looking at ti…more
16th-Century Ornament Prints
A collection of highly elaborate ornament prints, mostly in the grotesque style, from the collection of the Rijksmuseum – stunningly surreal and elaborate designs….more
An Alphabet of Organic Type (ca.1650)
A stunning series of letterforms designed in the mid-17th century, writhing forms which hover somewhere between the monstrous and floral…more
The Tibetan Book of Proportions
An eighteenth-century pattern book consisting of 36 ink drawings showing precise iconometric guidelines for depicting the Buddha and Bodhisattva figures. Written in…more