When I’m scrolling through wallpaper images I frequently stop and wonder what movement or inspiration let to the fruition of that design. When I saw this Egyptian-style paper that the museum acquired in 1938 I couldn’t think of any events occurring at that time that may have inspired this. When I looked a little closer...

The Egyptian motif of the scarab, a symbol of self-renewal, experienced great popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thousands of glass scarabs were produced by at Tiffany’s Corona factory and inset into jewelry, metalwork, and ceramic vases, as seen here. Tiffany’s Favrile pottery is known for its unique color effects, created by...

Piranesi’s originality lay in his eclecticism. Pulling together influences from Egyptian, Etruscan, Ancient Roman, and Greek designs, Piranesi presented a hybrid design system that was rooted in his commitment to the stature and importance of the Roman design heritage. From this starting point, the architectural elements move from historical recreations to articulated fantasy. While his...