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Lot Essay
This magnificent carpet, designed to embellish a table rather than cover a floor, displays the highest quality of workmanship, design, material and technique. The entire carpet is executed on a linen foundation embroidered with richly colored silk threads, in a highly elaborate technique combining a satin stitch with a herringbone design similar to Pont d'Hongrie. 17th century embroidery of this magnificent quality was produced in France, where weaving enjoyed crucial royal patronage. Though a definitive Provenance for the present lot can not be determined at this time, the renowned Savonnerie, Beauvais and Gobelins workshops produced contemporaneous pile and flatwoven carpets, many of which have been positively attributed based on inventory listings and surviving watercolor designs. This carpet fits firmly into the 17th century French oeuvre, whether its origin was a professional or a courtly French workshop.
The carpet is also unparalleled in quality of drawing, elaborate details and shading, as well as the allegorical significance of the animals that occupy the space. The peacock that stands in the center of the carpet with its feathers proudly displayed is a reference to the Roman goddess Juno, and connotes royalty. The peacock has also been known as a Christian symbol representing the all seeing nature of God and religion. The heraldic passant regardant lions further emphasize the royal symbolism while the rabbits that graze among the rinceaux of the major border may be associated with fertility and
abundance.
A pair of needlework table carpets in the Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art share the same quality as the present lot But with a more simplified design program. While the Wrightsman carpets display similar overall elaborate rinceaux and flowers, the details of the drawing, specifically of the animals, is not as finely articulated. Here the animals are more expressive, with the details and shading providing emotion and action. The straight edges of the Wrightsman carpet are a further departure from the scalloped edges of the present lot that accommodate the lush, blossoming tulips in the border.
While the question of attribution may remain unanswered pending the discovery of an inventory or model drawing, this table carpet nevertheless stands as testimony to the magnificence of French embroidery of the 17th century. The allegorical animals further enhance the mystery of who might have commissioned such an elaborately conceived and finely executed piece that truly stands in a class of its own among the known embroideries of its time.
The carpet is also unparalleled in quality of drawing, elaborate details and shading, as well as the allegorical significance of the animals that occupy the space. The peacock that stands in the center of the carpet with its feathers proudly displayed is a reference to the Roman goddess Juno, and connotes royalty. The peacock has also been known as a Christian symbol representing the all seeing nature of God and religion. The heraldic passant regardant lions further emphasize the royal symbolism while the rabbits that graze among the rinceaux of the major border may be associated with fertility and
abundance.
A pair of needlework table carpets in the Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art share the same quality as the present lot But with a more simplified design program. While the Wrightsman carpets display similar overall elaborate rinceaux and flowers, the details of the drawing, specifically of the animals, is not as finely articulated. Here the animals are more expressive, with the details and shading providing emotion and action. The straight edges of the Wrightsman carpet are a further departure from the scalloped edges of the present lot that accommodate the lush, blossoming tulips in the border.
While the question of attribution may remain unanswered pending the discovery of an inventory or model drawing, this table carpet nevertheless stands as testimony to the magnificence of French embroidery of the 17th century. The allegorical animals further enhance the mystery of who might have commissioned such an elaborately conceived and finely executed piece that truly stands in a class of its own among the known embroideries of its time.