Part 7

_Verdure with Dancing Nymphs_ No. 51 ]

The piece shows Aubusson work at its richest and finest. The foliage of the trees with every leaf shown and broken up into small spots of changing color is very typical of Aubusson, and quite different from the manner of the Flemish shops (cf. No. 55). The colors are remarkably fine.

[Sidenote: Lent by _P. W. French & Company_.]

Charles Antoine Coypel (1694-1752) entered the Academy in 1715, and the next year made a series of twenty-eight designs illustrating _Don Quixote_ for the Gobelins. A second important series which he designed for the Gobelins illustrated scenes from the theatre. He was a favorite painter of Queen Marie Leczinska. He wrote several comic dramas and had an interest in an understanding of the theatre which is reflected in his tapestry designs, which are conceived always as a theatrical scene in a stage setting, with actors making the proper expressive gestures.

[Sidenote: 63]

PARIS, XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._

Oval; H. 28 _in._ W. 23 _in._ ]

BACCHANTE: _A young bacchante wearing a tigerskin and holding Pan's pipes. In an oval panel._

This panel is after a portrait by Coypel. Though it does not appear on the official registers of the Gobelins, the technique would indicate that it was probably by a Gobelins weaver, who quite often worked outside of the official orders.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Jacques Seligmann & Company_.]

The delicate execution reproduces faithfully the piquant charm of the painting; even the most delicate gradations of tones are exactly reproduced.

[Sidenote: 64.]

GOBELINS, XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 25 _in._ W. 21 _in._ ]

PORTRAIT OF LOUIS XV: _This portrait, after a painting by Van Loo made for the Gobelins in_ 1760, _is one of a series of the royal family. It is in the original frame_.

[Sidenote: Illustrated: _Böttiger, Svenska Statins Samling_, vol. 2, pl. XLI; _Fénaille, Etat général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, Dix-huitième Siècle_, 2me Partie, p. 311; as portrait of Louis XVI, in _Migeon, Les Arts de Tissu_, p. 335.]

While tapestry is not an appropriate medium for portraiture, a portrait is the supreme test of the skill of the weaver. In this piece the effect of the painting is reproduced with remarkable fidelity. The warp is vertical.

[Sidenote: Lent by _P. W. French & Company_.]

The technical difficulty was the greater because almost the entire piece was woven in wool, the proper material for tapestry, silk being relied on only for a few high lights. As a portrait it has directness and conviction, carrying the essential dignity of royalty. The XVIIIth century, which first undertook to weave tapestry portraits, produced a kind of portrait that was especially ill-adapted to this material; for the likenesses depended primarily on the delicate modeling produced by a very sensitively differentiated scale of values and scarcely at all on lines. Even in Gothic tapestries there are many heads that are striking portraits, but these are entirely graphic in character and so fitted for tapestry. In rendering this portrait the weavers had literally to paint with the shuttle.

Carle Van Loo (1705-1756) studied in Rome under Luti and Le Gros. In his youth he painted scenery for the opera with Boucher. In 1737 he was admitted to the Academy, and in 1762 made first painter to the king.

[Sidenote: 65]

GOBELINS, FIRST HALF XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool._ H. 13 _ft._ 3 _in._ W. 8 _ft._ 3 _in._ ]

[Sidenote: Another rendering in the Vienna Collection, No. 253; another in the Musée Impériale des Ecuries, Petrograd, No. 118.]

THE INDIAN HUNTER: _This tapestry is one of a set of eight illustrating the New India after designs by François Desportes. The set was first woven in 1687._ _This piece has the first type of border used with the series_, _bearing the arms of the king_, _which means that it was woven before_ 1768 _under either Cozette or Neilson_.[32]

The design is typical of the romantic primitivism that Rousseau formulated in his conception of the Noble Savage. The accuracy of detail in the Indian basket is interesting and rather unexpected.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Demotte_.]

François Desportes (1661-1743) studied under Bernaert, a pupil of Snyders. He entered the Academy in 1699 and was made painter to the king. He is famous for his paintings of animals and hunting scenes.

[Sidenote: 66]

BEAUVAIS, XVIII CENTURY (1777)

[Sidenote:

_Wool._ H. 11 _ft._ 1 _in._ W. 21 _ft._ 3 _in._ ]

THE THEFT OF THE TRUNK: _A group of gypsies surround a traveler's carriage, and while some tell the lady's fortune and receive alms others attempt to steal a trunk from the baggage-rack behind._

[Sidenote: Formerly in Collection of Count Polovzoff, Petrograd. Another example in the Swedish Royal Collection. Illustrated: _Böttiger, Svenska Statins Samling_, vol. 3, pl. LXVI.]

The tapestry is one of the series _Les Bohémiens_ by François Casanova, and was woven in Beauvais when the factory was under the direction of André Charlemagne Charron, whose initials it bears in signature. According to the inventories, the series has been woven only twice--once in 1777 for the king, and again in 1799.[33]

The vividness of the minor episodes and the vivacity of characterization of even the lesser actors make this a most interesting tapestry. The weaving is done with exquisite skill and the color is unusually fresh and charming.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Jacques Seligmann & Company_.]

François Casanova (1730-1805) went to Italy in 1727 where he studied under Guardi and Francesco Simonini. He returned to France and later studied under Parocel. In 1763 he was received into the Academy and exhibited in the salons until 1783.

[Sidenote: 67]

BEAUVAIS, XVIII CENTURY (1735-1740)

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 11 _ft._ 9 _in._ W. 14 _ft._ 6 _in._ ]

THE ARMS OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE: _Two angels on clouds support the coat of arms before an ermine drape against a ground of fleur-de-lis on blue._

The angels are after Boucher, the only coat of arms in tapestry known to which Boucher has contributed. It is evidently one of several fleur-de-lis pieces listed in the accounts of Beauvais between 1735 and 1740 and may be the one made for the Parliament of Rouen in the latter year.[34]

It is an unusually rich and interesting armorial, the angels with their characteristic Boucher grace adding great beauty to the formal setting.

[Sidenote: Lent by _P. W. French & Company_.]

François Boucher (1703-1770) studied with Lemoyne and during that time painted scenery for the Opera, a work to which he returned in the height of his career (1737-44). In 1734 he became Academician. In 1735 he was appointed head of the Gobelins by Marigny. In 1765 he was made first painter to the king and Director of the Academy. In the years between 1740 and 1755 he painted many cartoons for the Beauvais tapestry works. Among his most famous tapestry suites are the _Loves of the Gods_, the _Chinese Hangings_, and the _Italian Fêtes_.

[Sidenote: 68]

GOBELINS, XVIII CENTURY (1767)

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 4 _ft._ 11 _in._ W. 6 _ft._ 6 _in._ ]

THE FORTUNE-TELLER: _Two peasant girls seated on the ground by a fountain are having their fortune told by another girl. A naked baby clings to her skirts. From one side a goat looks on inquisitively. It is signed F. Boucher and dated._

[Sidenote: Illustrated: _Fénaille, L'Etat général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, Dix-huitième Siècle_, 2me Partie, p. 238.]

This is one of a series of cartoons in small size made by Boucher for the Gobelins while he was director. They were very popular and have been woven a number of times.

The piece shows how remarkably the delicate gradations of tone, on which Boucher's essential quality depended, could be translated into the weave by the extraordinarily skillful craftsmen of the Gobelins.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Duveen Brothers_. ]

As in all of Boucher's cartoons, the subject is only an occasion for his own charming decorative mannerisms. As a rendition of peasant life, it is interesting to contrast this cartoon with the honest literalness of Teniers (cf. Nos. 47-49).

[Sidenote: 69]

AUBUSSON, LATE XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 9 _ft._ 10 _in._ W. 7 _ft._ 5 _in._ ]

BAIGNEUSE: _A bather attended by amorini is about to step into a woodland stream. In an oval frame surrounded by an encadrement of garlands upheld by amorini and satin drapes in the manner of Huet, on a gray ground._

The central panel is after Fragonard, a subject that he repeated with many variations. The piece is typical of the Aubusson work, delicate in color with the decorative effect depending largely on the flowery encadrement.

[Sidenote: Lent by _P. W. French & Company_.]

Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) studied under Boucher, Greuze, and Chardin, and is usually considered the successor of Boucher. In 1752 he was given Grand Prize for Painting. He was a favorite painter of Madame Du Barry, for whom he did a great deal of work.

[Sidenote: 70]

AUBUSSON, LATE XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 8 _ft._ 10 _in._ W. 6 _ft._ 6 _in._ ]

AU BORD DU MER: _In an oval panel are peasants landing from a rowboat. In the harbor under a cliff is a sailing vessel. In an encadrement of red and blue flowers and ribbons on a gray ground._

[Sidenote: Formerly in the Vaffrin Collection, Bordeaux.]

The central panel is after Vernet, who was particularly famous for his port scenes. The encadrement is unusually rich and delicate.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Wildenstein & Company_.]

Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714-1789) first studied under his father as a decorative painter of wall and furniture panels. Afterward he studied under Bernardino Fergiori in Rome to be a marine painter. In 1735 he was received by the Academy. His most famous paintings, of the seaports of France, are in the Louvre.

[Sidenote: 71]

AUBUSSON, XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool._ H. 9 _ft._ W. 5 _ft._ ]

CHINESE GROTESQUE: _A Chinaman, fantastically dressed, stands between two tall tropical trees. On a pale-blue ground._

[Sidenote: Lent by _A. J. Halow_.]

The piece is a delightful example of the taste for _chinoiseries_ which the Pompadour fostered for the benefit of the French East India Company, in which she was interested, and which taste was eagerly followed by the frivolous and bored French court, always seeking novelty.

[Sidenote: 72]

AUBUSSON, XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 4 _ft._ 3 _in._ W. 3 _ft._ 9 _in._ ]

ARMORIAL: _On a red ground, two angels support a shield. Border of scrolls._

This crisp and delicate little armorial is a fine example of the best quality of work done at Aubusson in the late XVIIIth century. The clear drawing on the deep-red background makes a vivid piece of decoration.

[Sidenote: Exhibited: _Detroit Museum of Fine Arts_, 1919.]

[Sidenote: Lent by _Dikran K. Kelekian_.]

The rendition of a coat of arms in tapestry is difficult, because the decorative value of heraldic devices depends almost entirely on the beauty of the line-drawing, and tapestry, because of the character of the weave and the surface, is not a good medium for clean lines. In the earlier periods, therefore, the shield was usually made incidental to a design better adapted to tapestry (cf. No. 9). It was only well into the XVIIIth century that the bearings could be woven delicately enough to let them stand alone.

[Sidenote: 73]

IMPERIAL RUSSIAN TAPESTRY WORKS, ST. PETERSBURG, 1811

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 9 _ft._ 4 _in._ W. 6 _ft._ 7 _in._ ]

CATHERINE THE GREAT: _Catherine stands in her robes of state holding the sceptre while the Imperial crown rests on a stool beside her. On the wall is the Russian motto, NACHATOYE SOVERCHAYET ("What is begun is accomplished"). It is signed and dated._

[Sidenote: Exhibited: _Metropolitan Museum_, 1912.]

For sheer technical skill the rendition of this portrait is unsurpassable. The representation of textures is remarkable, quite on a par with the cleverest paintings of the period.

[Sidenote: Illustrated: _Hunter, Tapestries_, pl. 229; also, _Candee, Tapestry Book_, opp. p. 133,--but wrongly attributed to the Gobelins.]

[Sidenote: Lent by _P. W. French & Company_.]

It is, in truth, an absolutely perfect reproduction of a painting--a painting, moreover, that from the character of all the accessories is particularly difficult to render in wool; and while it is by no means the business of tapestry to imitate painting, it is nevertheless an interesting display of remarkable virtuosity. The personal power of the forceful old Empress is strongly presented. From every aspect this is one of the greatest portraits in a woven medium. In general color tone the piece has remained faithful to the character of tapestry, sustaining the rich quality that the solid texture demands. In spite, also, of the need for many delicately graded values to render the stuffs and the modeling, the weavers have kept the color in large enough masses to be broadly decorative.

[Sidenote: 74]

MADRID, LATE XVIII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 5 _ft._ W. 8 _ft._ ]

THE CARD PLAYERS: _A group of men and women playing at cards sit about a table on which is thrown a rich brocade. One of the company sits to one side playing a lute._

[Sidenote: Lent by _Duveen Brothers_.]

This piece is one of the rather uncommon examples of the work of the Santa Barbara looms of Madrid. The skill of the weavers is remarkable in reproducing the heavy modeling of the deep shadows and the delicate modulations of the faces. For the perfect rendition of the effect of a painting in tapestry it cannot be excelled.

ADDENDA

_The tapestries entered under this heading were received too late to be entered in their proper order in the body of the catalogue._

[Sidenote: 75]

BRUSSELS, BEGINNING OF XVI CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool, Silk, Gold._ H. 9 _ft._ 1 _in._ W. 7 _ft._ 8 _in._ ]

THE RESURRECTION: _The risen Christ discovered by Peter. Upper left, the Agony in Gethsemane; upper right, Christ appearing to Mary in the garden. In the background, the angel appearing to the three women. Border of fruits and flowers, grapes, roses, and iris interspersed with finches and a paroquet._

This tapestry, the last of a series illustrating the _Passion_ of Our Lord, was designed in the studio of Bernard Van Orley, and may be the work of Van Orley himself, though there were some of his students and followers who in purity of conception and elevation and sensitiveness of feeling were superior at times to the master himself. The weaving, unsurpassable in technical perfection, may be the work of the Pannemaker looms. The quality of the design and weaving and the lavish use of gold all indicate that this series was made for a great church or a noble family.

[Sidenote: Formerly in the Collection of the Duc d'Albe.]

The weavers at this period had attained complete mastery of the shuttle. This absolute technical control made possible the exact translation into tapestry of the intricate Renaissance patterns. The finish and elegance of the goldsmith's art which characterized so much of Renaissance design is perfectly rendered.

However, while the weaving was fitted to the requirements of the Renaissance at this time, it had not yet sacrificed any of its qualities as tapestry. Nor did the designs of Bernard Van Orley force the weavers out of their proper limitations. For though he was Italian trained and saturated with Renaissance influences, he was still close to the technical problems of the weaver's art and he adjusted the new manner in painting to them. So this piece is rich in jewel-like detail that enriches without crowding the whole surface. The drawing of the flowers and the birds is exquisite. The figures also, in spite of their dramatic force, keep the aloof poise that decorative art demands. Finally, by means of a dispersion of substantial tones, the brilliant suffusion of golden light which the Renaissance loved is fully achieved.

Such a scene as this is, in short, one of the last great monuments of the perfection of Gothic tapestry, reinspired by the new insights of the Renaissance before the ostentation and mistaken conventions of Raphael misguided the entire art.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]

Nor is it merely a technical triumph. It is the direct expression of a profound religious emotion which shines through the material beauty, elevates it above earthly things, and sets it apart in glory. Easter has scarce had a lovelier celebration.

[Sidenote: 76]

BRUSSELS, XVI CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 15 _ft._ W. 19 _ft._ ]

THE TRIUMPH OF WISDOM: _Wisdom with her two herons rides in a chariot drawn by mythological beasts. In the upper right are Perseus and Pegasus. Before the chariot are Ahasuerus, Abigail, David, and Saba. Cassandra walks beside, while Titus and his soldiers, Rachel, and Judith with the head of Holofernes bring up the rear. In the upper left Prometheus, in the lower Cadmus, contending with the dragons._

This is one of a very famous set of tapestries illustrating the _Triumphs of Petrarch_ and a number of other _Triumphs_ invented by French poets in imitation of Petrarch. The cartoons are evidently the product of the studio of Maître Philippe (cf. Nos. 19, 20), for the heads of several of the minor characters are regular models, often repeated in his work. The cartoons were painted and also executed before 1523, because in that year Henry VII bought eight of the set, four of which are still at Hampton Court. This piece, however, was woven in the middle of the century, as is shown by the character of the heavy floral border. In the selvage is the Brussels city mark and the mark of the Brussels weaver, Leo Van den Hecke.

[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]

The design is full of the oblique symbolism that the period loved. The allusions are drawn with equal interest from classic tradition, secular history, and Christian legend. The entire past has been laid under tribute with magnificent disregard of historical, social, and religious congruity. Such an unclassified assemblage of exciting personalities might even cause confusion in the Day of Judgment. It is typical of the Renaissance catholicity, the Renaissance eagerness to assimilate all knowledge and be always as impressive as possible. Yet the figures still have some of the stately restraint of the Gothic, and the dispersion of the points of interest, so that the whole textile is equally covered, is a remainder from the Gothic taste. Truly transitional, it represents the final stage of Maître Philippe's development.

[Sidenote: 77]

FLANDERS, ENGHIEN (?), XVI CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 5 _ft._ W. 6 _ft._ 11 _in._ ]

VERDURE: _Scrolling leaves in rich blue-green with red and yellow flowers and fruits on a very deep-blue ground. A wide border of clusters of flowers and fruits._

[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]

This is a notably brilliant example of the characteristic Renaissance verdure. The drawing is both accurate and vivacious, the colors pure, deep, and brilliant, the wool of extraordinary firmness and lustre, while the weave is remarkably close for the type. Tapestries of this class are so often perfunctory in conception and mechanical in execution that we need a piece of this clarity, strength, and perfect finish to show how splendid are the possibilities inherent in the simple design.

[Sidenote: 78]

FLANDERS, LATE XVII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 11 _ft._ 8 _in._ W. 15 _ft._ ]

THE CABRIOLE: _A young knight shows his skill in jumping his horse. At the left a page leads in a sumptuously caparisoned horse. At the right a large fountain is seen through the trees, and in the background is a formal garden with fountains._

[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]

Such very decorative verdures, half realistic landscapes, were among the finest products of the late XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries. Audenarde looms wove many of the best pieces of the type, and this piece probably came from that district. The fountain is rendered with delightful detail and animation, and the drawing of flowing waters, a trying problem for tapestry, is managed with admirable dexterity.

[Sidenote: 79]

ANTWERP, LATE XVII CENTURY

[Sidenote:

_Wool and Silk._ H. 32 _in._ W. 24 _in._ ]

SCENES FROM THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST: _On a black ground strewn with flowers, five oval panels framed with wreaths: the Annunciation; the Nativity; the Adoration of the Magi; the Circumcision; the Flight into Egypt._

[Sidenote: Illustrated: _Schmitz, Bild-Teppiche_, p. 265.]

[Sidenote: Lent by _Mrs. William H. Crocker_.]

This very unusual tapestry was the work of Balthasar Bosmanns, one of the greatest weavers of Antwerp. The realistically drawn yet richly decorative flowers show the influence of the school of flower painters of which Jan Brueghel was the most famous. The landscape in the _Adoration_ and the _Flight into Egypt_ are rendered with exquisite delicacy. The effect of the panels in such light, fresh, almost pastel colors against the black ground is a daring and striking decorative experiment. Another rendering of the same cartoon is in the Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: _Schmitz, Bild-Teppiche_, p. 186.]

[Footnote 2: _Lindner, Der Breslauer Froissart_.]

[Footnote 3: _Amberger Catalogue._]

[Footnote 4: _Thièry, Les Inscriptions des Tapisseries de Jean Van Room_, pp. 23, 24E.]

[Footnote 5: _Marquet de Vasselot, Les Emaux Limousin_, No. 8, pl. II.]

[Footnote 6: _Op. cit._ 29, pl. X.]

[Footnote 7: _Op. cit._ 49, pl. XVI.]

[Footnote 8: _Order for Payment of Philip the Good_, _April_ 4, 1455, _quoted in Van den Gheyn_, _Chroniques et Conquêtes de Charlemagne_, _by le Tavernier_, _p._ 11.]

[Footnote 9: _See Burlington Magazine_, vol. 20, pp. 247, 309. _D. T. B. Wood, Credo Tapestries._]

[Footnote 10: _See Barbier de Montault's inventory in Annales Archéologiques_, tome 15, pp. 232, 296.]

[Footnote 11: _Van Kalcken, Peintures ecclésiastiques du Moyen Age. Notes by Dr. Jan Six._]

[Footnote 12: _Op. cit._ p. 1.]

[Footnote 13: _Op. cit._ p. 3.]

[Footnote 14: _Op. cit._ p. 15.]

[Footnote 15: _Burlington Magazine_, vol. 20, p. 220. _D. T. B. Wood, Tapestries of the Seven Deadly Sins._]

[Footnote 16: _Catalogue of the Collection of Martin le Roy_, vol. 4.]

[Footnote 17: _Destrée, Tapisseries et Sculptures bruxelloises_, p. 8.]

[Footnote 18: _Thièry, Les Inscriptions des Tapisseries de Jean Van Room._]

[Footnote 19: _Bodenhauser, Gerard David_, No. 10.]

[Footnote 20: _Op. cit._ No. 25a.]

[Footnote 21: _Destrée, Hugo Van der Goes_, opp. p. 48.]

[Footnote 22: _Op. cit._, opp. p. 32.]

[Footnote 23: _Thièry, Les Inscriptions des Tapisseries de Jean Van Room_, p. 28.]

[Footnote 24: _Thièry, Les Inscriptions des Tapisseries de Jean Van Room_, p. 27. Also, _Destrée and Van den Ven, Les Tapisseries_, No. 17.]

[Footnote 25: For illustration, see _Fsoulke Collection_, opp. p. 49.]

[Footnote 26: _Thomson, History of Tapestry_, p. 479.]

[Footnote 27: For further discussion, see _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 2me Période; _Montaiglon, Diane de Poitiers et Son Goût dans les Arts_, t. XIX, p. 152.]

[Footnote 28: _La Renaissance de l'Art français_, 1921, p. 159 ff.; _E. Dimier, La Tenture de la Grande Galerie_.]