Page from a Scrapbook containing Drawings and Several Prints of Architecture, Interiors, Furniture and Other Objects 1795 - 1805

This is a page from a scrapbook by Charles Percier, containing drawings and prints of architecture, interiors, furniture, and other objects. Percier was a leading architect and designer in France during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These scrapbooks, common in that era, served as a visual repository of ideas, inspirations, and designs. The practice of keeping scrapbooks reflects the growing culture of collecting and classifying knowledge that rose alongside encyclopedias and museums. Percier's scrapbook offers insight into the aesthetic preferences of the Neoclassical and Empire styles that dominated French design after the Revolution. The careful arrangement of images and texts speaks to the institutionalization of design as a field of study, with academies and schools shaping artistic production. To truly understand the significance of this scrapbook page, we can consult archival sources, design treatises, and social histories of 19th-century France, revealing the intricate connections between art, society, and the institutions that shaped them.