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Lot Essay
SUBJECT The inscription 'Je lengerie lieb (?) bin ich hold Sie wigt das Silber und das goldt' translates to 'The longer I am faithful to love she mesaures the silver and the gold'. The text implies the presence of a male youth standing opposite the maiden and confessing his growing love for her. The maiden now measures up 'Bittersuss', a herb with a name that can be translated as 'bitter-sweet', compared to gold and silver and therefore implies the 'bitter' feelings she has in this love.
TAPESTRY PRODUCTION IN THE UPPER RHINE REGION
Today only 53 tapestries and fragments survive of the tapestry production of Strasbourg of the 15th and early 16th century. The tapestry production of Strasbourg was not far behind Flemish examples in quantity, but it may be because of the generally small size of these tapestries and their use that so few survive today.
Documents reveal that the majority of the commissions came from members of the social elite who were active in finance, politics or in the church. Although it is not known how many weavers were active in Strasbourg, the surviving panels document a constant tapestry production throughout the 15th century. Numerous workshops throughout the region of the upper Rhine were active in the 15th century and more recent studies have revealed that most of them were full workshops rather than single independent patrician women or nuns working.
Tapstries of this type were known as Heidnischwerk (non-Christian work), a name that was employed for both profane and religious subjects, indicating a generic use of the name for all tapestries of Switzerland and Southern Germany. The origins of the name are not certain, but it may refer to the place where tapestry weaving originated or to the expensive damask or brocade backgrounds that were produced by non-Christians, which were frequently depicted in the background of these tapestries.
(A Rapp Buri, M. Stucky-Schürer, Zahm und Wild, Basler und Strassburger Bildteppiche des 15. Jahrhunderts, Mainz, 1990)
TAPESTRY PRODUCTION IN THE UPPER RHINE REGION
Today only 53 tapestries and fragments survive of the tapestry production of Strasbourg of the 15th and early 16th century. The tapestry production of Strasbourg was not far behind Flemish examples in quantity, but it may be because of the generally small size of these tapestries and their use that so few survive today.
Documents reveal that the majority of the commissions came from members of the social elite who were active in finance, politics or in the church. Although it is not known how many weavers were active in Strasbourg, the surviving panels document a constant tapestry production throughout the 15th century. Numerous workshops throughout the region of the upper Rhine were active in the 15th century and more recent studies have revealed that most of them were full workshops rather than single independent patrician women or nuns working.
Tapstries of this type were known as Heidnischwerk (non-Christian work), a name that was employed for both profane and religious subjects, indicating a generic use of the name for all tapestries of Switzerland and Southern Germany. The origins of the name are not certain, but it may refer to the place where tapestry weaving originated or to the expensive damask or brocade backgrounds that were produced by non-Christians, which were frequently depicted in the background of these tapestries.
(A Rapp Buri, M. Stucky-Schürer, Zahm und Wild, Basler und Strassburger Bildteppiche des 15. Jahrhunderts, Mainz, 1990)