"Leaping Deer"

Dateca 1860

MediumInk on wove paper

DimensionsOther (primary support): 21 7/8 × 29 1/8 in (55.56 × 73.98cm)
Framed: 24 5/16 × 31 5/8 × 7/8 in (61.75 × 80.33 × 2.22cm)

Credit LineGift of David Rockefeller

Object number1931.312.2

DescriptionCalligraphy, framed PaintingLabel TextSteadiness of hand and a good deal of previous practice with a steel pen were required to execute calligraphic compositions such as this Leaping Deer, which is comprised of many small free-flowing strokes in imitation of line engravings. Calligraphic drawings particularly proliferated during the third quarter of the nineteenth century, when great emphasis was placed on fine penmanship. The leaping deer or stag appears to have been a favorite subject for drawing classes; probably it was popularized by printed examples contained in writing manuals of the period.Mark(s)No marks or inscriptionsProvenanceAcquired in 1939 by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, using funds provided by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; transferred from the MoMA to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, in 1949; purchased from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by David Rockefeller and given by him to CWF in 1955.