A particular ornamental style based on the forms of shells and water-worn rocks and elaborate curlicues. The name Rocaille is then something to do with rocks or the rock-like.
As a style in art, it was very popular in 18th-century France and especially during the reign of Louis XV. The term Rococo was probably derived from the word. If true, we could view it as the warm up to the full-blown and more frivolous Rococo style.
The featured image is by the French Artist Edme Bouchardon (1698 – 1762) and is a red chalk drawing from 1735 titled Rocaille Fountain with Venus, Amorini, and Swans.
