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Wool Tapestries

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Material: Wool
20th Century Tuareg Wedding Tapestry from Niger, Africa
Located in Point Richmond, CA
Offered by Andres Moraga Wedding blanket or tent hanging, "Arkilla Jenngo" Woven by Fulani weavers for a Tuareg noble family First half 20th century Inland Delta Region, Niger or Mal...
Category

Mid-20th Century Nigerien Tribal Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Joan Miro, Artistic Rug, Danseuse Espagnole
Located in Paris, FR
Joan Miró "Danseuse Espagnole" Design made in 1928, tapestry manufactured in 1960 Handwoven Wool Tapestry 81 x 60 in 'MIRO' signature woven on reverse Woven by Marie Cuttoli's Parisi...
Category

1960s French Aubusson Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Bloody Poppies Tapestry By MIRANDA MAKAROFF, REP by Tuleste Factory
Located in New York, NY
Bloody Poppies Tapestry by Miranda Makaroff W 96" x H 108" Wool and cotton. Edition of 5 Available Shipping is not included. See our shipping policies. Please contact us for sh...
Category

2010s Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Antique Navajo Rug Yei Navajo Rare Human Geometric Handmade Wool Ivory, 1940
Located in New York, NY
Navajo rug flat woven rug tapestry beige Measures: 4' x6' (3'11" x 5'7") 119cm x 170cm Circa 1920 "The woolen rug has a white background color on which are three stylized figures on each side of a center cornstalk. All are surrounded on three sides by a "guardian "figure - one side is the head and the body - the other side are the legs. The rug is a Navajo Yei rug. All the figures are holding prayer sticks; there are feathers attached to the elbows of the figures in a vertical line. The colors of the rug are white, red, maroon, blue, tan, brown, grey, orange, rust and gold. The most common type of Navajo Yei rug are those with a white background color. Navajo Yei rugs were made at Lukachukai or in the Shiprock area or even Ganado. It is a fact that a Navajo Yei rug with many Yei figures and many colors will garner the highest value. While Yei rugs are technically woven for the floor, they were often placed on couches, or hung on the wall like paintings, few actually touched the ground. The Yei figure is a frequently used pattern in Navajo rugs. Male Yei figures are generally pictured with round heads, and female Yei figures with square heads. Modern Yei rugs are more often pictorial compositions, showing a row of front-facing stylized stick figures with a Rainbow Guardian which protects the figures on three sides, indicating the sand painting roots of this particular style. The Yei rug portrays ceremonies on a desire for healing, not only physical health, but also mental, spiritual, and even material well-being. The "Holy People...
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1940s Persian Navajo Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Vintage European Modernist Pictorial Wall Rug Folk art Interior Design
Located in London, GB
Colourful vintage European Folk art wool wall rug featuring abstract bird pattern Polish or Swedish Size 32 x 21 inches 83 x 52 cm approx. Period 1950`s Condition; Good.
Category

1960s Swedish Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

French artistic wall tapestry signed and dated 1977
Located in L’ISLE-SUR-LA-SORGUE, FR
French wall tapestry from 1977, hand-woven by the artist using a variety of materials such as jute, cotton and wool. An artistry showcasing a stunning blend of shades and textures. ...
Category

1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Jute, Cotton

Bobyrug’s Wonderful Antique French Aubusson Fine Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Very beautiful late 19th century French Aubusson tapestry with a nice gallant decor, hunting and beautiful colors, extremely finely hand woven with silk and wool. ✨✨✨ "Experience th...
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Late 19th Century French Aubusson Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Framed Ceremonial Tapis Textile from Lampung
Located in Houston, TX
Tapis are elaborate skirts made in Lampung province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Women wore them with matching jackets during special events and ceremonies. Tapis were high-status ceremonial...
Category

Mid-20th Century Indonesian Other Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Early 20th Century Tunisian Berber Woman's Head Wrapper
Located in Point Richmond, CA
Woman’s Head Wrapper, Assaba Berber people, Matmata, Dahar Mountains, Tunisia 1900-1950 Wool, natural dyes , Sprang technique, shaped resist dyeing 69 x 15 inches 175 x 38 A very l...
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Early 20th Century Tunisian Tribal Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

20th Century French Wool Tapestry Attributed to the Aubusson Manufacture
Located in Sofia, BG
French wool tapestry representing a scene with characters and animals on a background of wood. circa 19s0 Measures: 130 x 135 cm.  
Category

Early 20th Century French Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Large French Aubusson Pastoral Verdure Tapestry or Wall Hanging
Located in Miami, FL
A vibrant and playful Aubusson tapestry depicting the typical French scenery of castle surrounded by a forest with birds and river in the foreground. ...
Category

Early 20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Early 20th Century Tunisian Berber Woman's Veil
Located in Point Richmond, CA
Woman’s Cover, Bakhnouk Berber people, Matmata Mountains, Tunisia Early 20th century Wool, cotton, natural and synthetic dyes (?) Supplementary patterning Dyed after being woven whi...
Category

Early 20th Century Tunisian Tribal Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

19th Century French Aubusson Verdure Tapestry, Signed And Monogramed - N° 1401
Located in Paris, FR
A stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower We are a family business specializing in the purchase, sale and expertise of old, modern and contemporary tapestries, rugs, kilims and textiles....
Category

1840s French Aubusson Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Antique 19th Century French Landscape Verdure Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
Antique 19th century French landscape Verdure tapestry depicting a lovely setting on the sheep on the banks of a river with a waterfall ...
Category

19th Century French Aubusson Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Tapestry, Wool

Beautiful Antique Velvet Italian Textile 3'1" x 6'2"
Located in New York, NY
Beautiful Antique Velvet Italian Textile, Origin: Italy
Category

17th Century Italian Greco Roman Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Hunting Falconry Embroidered Tapestry Classical Female Portrait Wool, circa 1890
Located in Cheltenham, GB
Hunting Falconry Embroidered Tapestry Classical Female Portrait Wool, circa 1890 A Berlin wool work picture of a medieval lady with a bird of prey. Tapestry embroidered gros-point ...
Category

1890s German Folk Art Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Bobyrug’s Nice Vintage Polish Tapestry Kilim
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Very beautiful mid century polish tapestry Kilim, with beautiful native design and nice colors, entirely hand woven with wool on cotton foundation. ✨✨...
Category

Mid-20th Century Polish Scandinavian Modern Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Jean Picart Le Doux Tapestry - Night Flight II - Atelier Picaud - N° 1403
Located in Paris, FR
Artist: Jean Picart Le Doux Period: 20th century Style: Modern art Condition: Perfect condition Material: Wool Width: 160cm Height: 120cm Depth: 0.5cm A stone's throw from the Eiffe...
Category

1960s French Aubusson Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Firebird Tapestry by Aède Studios
Located in Geneve, CH
Firebird Tapestry by Aède Studios Dimensions: D 1 x W 173 x H 140 cm. Materials: Weave. Jacquard weaving, with 52% cotton, 30% polyester, and 18% wool. Custom materials and dimens...
Category

2010s French Post-Modern Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton, Polyester

Shirred Rug, c.1850
Located in Savannah, GA
A floral shirred rug, New England, circa 1850. Professionally mounted on stretched canvas frame. 67 by 32 inches
Category

1850s American Folk Art Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Wood

Large 6x9 French Aubusson Knotted Rug/Tapestry
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pretty mid-century French Aubusson rug with beautiful floral and geometrical Louis XVI style design and nice neutral colors. Hand knotted with wool. approx 6 x 9. Could be use...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

19th Century Verdure Tapestry "Scene of river Castle Bird" Aubusson Wool France
Located in Antwerpen, BE
Immerse yourself in the serene beauty of the French countryside with our exquisite 19th Century Verdure Tapestry, depicting a bucolic landscape complete with a river, castle, birds, ...
Category

Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Éva Németh - Green Flatweave carpet with Birds - Hungary around 1970s
Located in Stockholm, SE
A lovely flatweave carpet designed by Éva Németh in Hungary around 1970s. It is 199 x 144 cm. It has a sewn meatus on the back to easily hang it on the wall (can also easily bee remo...
Category

1970s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

An 18TH Century Verdure Tapestry Of Large Scale
Located in London, GB
A fine eighteenth century verdure tapestry with lively greenery throughout showing dappled light on the trees, with a pair of pheasants in the foreground, and a clearing in the backg...
Category

Early 18th Century French Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Nice French Aubusson Style Jacquard tapestry curtain
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Immerse yourself in the allure of this mid-20th-century French tapestry curtain , showcasing a design of flowers,. Adorned with exquisite hues of red, yellow, green and white, made i...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Cotton, Wool

19th Century French Aubusson Needlepoint Tapestry, Ribbon Weave and Pendant
Located in New York, NY
An antique French Aubusson needlepoint tapestry from the 19th century, featuring an oval pendant at center, which envisions an idyllic landscape. The pendant medallion is surrounded by floral garlands and ribbon ties, with soft color tones in the background. Enclosed within a monochrome outer guard border. Handwoven. Wool with silk inlay. Flat-weave with no upward pile. Excellent condition. A great option to add color, warmth, and dimension to your walls, as this is a wonderful antique wall covering...
Category

19th Century French Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Vintage Andean Peruvian Fine Large Manta Cloth South American Textiles Decor
Located in London, GB
Vintage Andean Peruvian Manta Cloth South American Vintage Textiles. A very fine Vintage Manta in ochre colours from the High Andes region of Peru Woven in came-lid fibre (Llama wool...
Category

1960s Indonesian Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Vintage Navajo Wool Wall Hanging
Located in Stockholm, SE
Beautiful little tapestry / wall hanging or table decoration with a geometrical Navajo design pattern. Woven with wool on cotton. Very good vintage condition. Dimensions excludes the...
Category

20th Century Unknown Navajo Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Brazilian Midcentury Wall Tapestry by Nadi, c. 1960
Located in Rio De Janeiro, RJ
Brazilian midcentury stunning wall tapestry woven in natural fibers designed by Nadi, Brazil, c. 1960.
Category

Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Jute

Mid Century Danish Modern Wall Tapestry by Eva Nemeth Wool
Located in San Diego, CA
Transport yourself to mid-century Scandinavia with this exquisite Vintage Wall Carpet by Eva Nemeth, hailing from Hungary. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, this wool wove...
Category

20th Century Hungarian Mid-Century Modern Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

17th Century French Verdure Tapestry
Located in Houston, TX
This exquisite 17th-century French Verdure tapestry captures the essence of pastoral beauty with its meticulously hand-woven wool intricacies. Measuring [dimensions], it transports v...
Category

17th Century French Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Victorian Sailor's Woolwork Picture of Ships and Rowing Boats
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
Antique Sailor's Woolwork Embroidery Picture of two sailing ships and sailors in rowing boats. One of the ships is steam powered, with smoke coming out of the chimney/smokestack. Dra...
Category

1870s English Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Nice French Aubusson Style Jacquard Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
"Exquisite French tapestry from the mid-20th century, featuring a beautiful design of a port in Europe, in the 17th century, with boats at the docks, sailors getting ready, freight c...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Wonderful antique French Aubusson Tapestry museum medieval design
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Very beautiful and Aubusson tapestry with a nice design featuring a part of the design of a medieval tapestry at a museum in Paris « La promenade » the promenade, a tapestry from the...
Category

Early 20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Pretty mid century Brutalist Macrame tapestry boats design
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Introducing a Modern Design meets Neo Classic with a touch of Bohemian flair! Elevate your space with our exquisite macramé hangings. Crafted from natural materials like cotton rope,...
Category

Mid-20th Century Spanish Modern Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

nice mid century modern hand woven Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Very beautiful small modern tapestry probably European (unknown artist) with a nice design featuring a design of a boat in the ocean, with the moon above, with beautiful colours, wi...
Category

Mid-20th Century European Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Beautiful Vintage Senneh Kilim
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Nice vintage Kilim with beautiful geometrical design and nice colors, entirely hand woven with wool on cotton foundation.
Category

Late 20th Century Asian Kilim Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Nice French modern needlepoint Tapestry « Toffoli »
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
« La maternité » maternity Discover the exquisite beauty of this authentic needlepoint tapestry, meticulously hand embroidered . this masterpiece features a captivating design by L...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton, Silk

Wool And Silk Tapestry, Young Woman Under A Canopy, 18th Centuryflag
Located in Honnelles, WHT
Wool And Silk Tapestry, Young Woman Under A Canopy, significant wear but the tapestry is consistent
Category

18th Century French Louis XV Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Late 20th Century Vintage Tapestry 8.0X7.0
Located in Los Angeles, US
A wall hanging tapestry, simply put, is a textile specifically designed and woven to portray an artistic scene with the intent of hanging it on a wall. Antique tapestries, those that...
Category

Late 20th Century Unknown Empire Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Jean Lurçat - Le Tapageur - Tapestry
Located in RÉDING, FR
Jean Lurçat - Le Tapageur - Tapestry " LURCAT, Jean (1892-1966). “The rowdy one.” Printed tapestry depicting a rooster on a black background. Signed lower right. Bolduc on the back i...
Category

20th Century French Organic Modern Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

P. Rey Contemporary Art Tapestry
Located in RÉDING, FR
P. Rey Contemporary Art Tapestry Contemporary art 1960s Large Tapestry titled “Reflections” Embroidered in stitch (Laine DMC) after the original cartoon by P. Rey (1936-2006) Contem...
Category

20th Century French Arts and Crafts Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

19th Century Sampler Off Family Tree 1888 by Anne Marie Frissen Belgium
Located in Antwerpen, BE
Step into the past with our enchanting 19th Century Sampler, meticulously crafted by Anne Marie Frissen in 1888. This delightful piece, known as the "Off Family Tree," showcases intr...
Category

Late 19th Century Belgian Country Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Linen

Wonderful mid century French Aubusson Tapestry medieval play chess
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Very beautiful and Aubusson tapestry with a nice design featuring a medieval design with the king and queen playing chess, with beautiful colours, with yellow, green , brown, blue an...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

French Aubusson Tapestry Greenery 19th century - 1m92x1m50 - No. 1365
Located in Paris, FR
A stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower We are a family business specializing in the purchase, sale and expertise of old, modern and contemporary tapestries, rugs, kilims and textiles....
Category

Mid-19th Century French Aubusson Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Antique Floral Design And Soft Colored Rare American Tapestry 4'9" x 6'10"
Located in New York, NY
A Classically Crafted Antique Floral Design And Soft Colored Rare American Tapestry, Origin: America, Circa: Turn of the Twentieth Century
Category

Late 19th Century American American Classical Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century Antique Velvet Wall Hanging Dutch Textile 6'3" x 8'6"
Located in New York, NY
Breathtaking Antique Velvet Wall Hanging Dutch Textile, Country of Origin: Netherlands, Circa Date: 18th Century
Category

18th Century Danish Victorian Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Bobyrug’s Pretty Antique French Jaquar Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Very beautiful late 19th century tapestry with beautiful design of a hunter at the town, and beautiful golden colors, mechanical Jaquar manufacturing woven with wool and cotton. ✨✨✨...
Category

Late 19th Century French Aubusson Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton

Antique French Aubusson Tapestry 19th Century
Located in Doha, QA
This 19th century French Aubusson Tapestry is an absolutely wonderful piece of art and has been made with a lot of details. It has an extremely vibrant powerful colours and shows lo...
Category

19th Century French Baroque Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

ARTIS FLORA, French Tapestry in Renaissance style - around 1960 - No. 1370
Located in Paris, FR
A stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower We are a family business specializing in the purchase, sale and expertise of old, modern and contemporary tapestries, rugs, kilims and textiles....
Category

1960s French Aubusson Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

1980s Design Hand made Wool Tapestry - Czechoslovakia
Located in Praha, CZ
- perfect original condition, bright colours - 1985 jr
Category

1980s Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Minimalist Antique Woolen Namad Felt, 19th Century - Afghanistan
Located in Renens, CH
For millennia, Central Asian nomads relied on age-old designs. Felt, prized for its insulation and portability, featured prominently in their lives until its decline a few decades ag...
Category

Early 1900s Afghan Tribal Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Minimalist Antique Woolen Namad Felt, 19th Century - Afghanistan
Located in Renens, CH
For millennia, Central Asian nomads relied on age-old designs. Felt, prized for its insulation and portability, featured prominently in their lives until its decline a few decades ag...
Category

Early 1900s Afghan Tribal Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

6.9x10.2 Ft Vintage Floral Bessarabian Kilim, Handwoven Wool Rug from Moldova
Located in Philadelphia, PA
One of a kind vintage Bessarabian Kilim. A handwoven Eastern European rug from Moldova. These traditional Moldovan flat-weaves are inspired from vintage Aubusson carpets but they ar...
Category

20th Century Moldovan Bohemian Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Cabbage Leaf Tapestry - Canvas Print - Robert Four - Aubusson
Located in RÉDING, FR
"Cabbage Leaf Tapestry - Canvas Print - Robert Four - Aubusson" ROBERT FOUR - AUBUSSON TAPESTRY printed in wool and linen decorated with aristolochia leaves and animals, replica from...
Category

Mid-20th Century Aubusson Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Tapestry Jean Picart Le Doux Chamber Music
Located in RÉDING, FR
"Tapestry Jean Picart Le Doux Chamber Music" Work entitled "Chamber Music". Signed on the back. Jean Picart Ledoux (1902-1982). Upholsterer artist, painter, self-taught, Jean Picart...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Tapestry Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period 1738 at the Gobelins
Located in Madrid, ES
Tapestry from the Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period , made in 1738 at the Gobelins One panel from a series of Gobelins tapestries depicting the History of Esther, illustrating Esther seated and attended by handmaidens, one washing her feet in golden basin, another fastening a bracelet, another offering a mirror, all observed by Mordecai, woven in the workshop of Michele Audran after a design by J. F. de Troy. The Toilet of Esther c.1778-85.Royal Collection Trust-Queens Audience Chamber Windsor Castle The Sketches for the Esther Cycle by Jean-François de Troy (1736) “and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mor’decai, ..., took for his own daughter.” (Est. 2:7) A supple and undulating genius, both a flattering portraitist and a prolix history painter, as well as a brilliant genre painter, in a gallant or worldly vein, Jean-François de Troy (Paris, 1679 – Rome, 1752), solicited, although he had passed the threshold of old age, a new royal commission up to his ambitions. To obtain it, he submitted – successfully - for the approval of the Bâtiments du roi (administration), seven modelli painted in 1736 with his usual alacrity. Inspired by one of the most novelistic texts of the Old Testament, the Book of Esther, these sketches in a rapid and virtuoso manner were transformed by the artist, between 1737 and 1740 into large cartoons intended to serve as models for the weavers of the Gobelins factory. Showing undeniable ease and skill in the composition in perfect harmony with the sensitivities of the times, the tapestry set met with great success. The Story of Esther perfectly corresponded to the plan of the Bâtiments du roi to renew the repertoire of tapestry models used for the weavers of the royal factories while it also conformed to the tastes of Louis XV’s subjects for a fantastical Orient, the set for a dramatic tale in which splendour, love and death were combined. Indeed, no tapestry set was woven in France during the 18th century as often as that of Esther. The series of modelli painted by de Troy during the year 1736 looks to the history of French painting and decoration under Louis XV as much as it does the history of the Gobelins. It probably counts among the most important rococo pictorial groups to have remained in private hands. First the Biblical source illustrated by De Troy which constitutes the base of one of the richest iconographical traditions of Western art will be considered. Then the circumstances and specific character of French civilisation during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV which contributed to making the theme of Esther a relevant subject, both attractive to contemporaries and remarkably in line with the sensitivities of the time will be elucidated. An examination of the exceptional series of sketches united here, the cartoons and the tapestries that they anticipate as well as a study of their reception will close this essay. The Book of Esther: A scriptural source at the source of rich iconography. The origin of the Esther tapestry set by Jean-François de Troy – origin and creation of a masterpiece According to the evidence of one of the artist’s early biographers, the chevalier de Valory, author of a posthumous elegy of the master, read at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 6 February 1762, it was apparently due to early16 rivalry with François Lemoyne (1688-1737), his younger colleague who had precisely just been appointed First Painter to the King in 1736, that had encouraged François de Troy to seek a commission allowing him to show off his ease and his promptitude at the expense of a rival who was notoriously laborious: “M. De Troy, retaining some resentment of the kind of disadvantage which he believed to have suffered compared with his emulator looked to regain some territory by making use of the facility his rival did not possess. Lemoyne was excessively long in the creation of his works,and M. De Troy of a rare celerity: consequently, with this particular talent, the latter offered to the court to make paintings appropriate to be executed at the Gobelins Factory; and it is to this circumstance that we owe the beautiful series of the Story of Esther, which would be sufficient alone to give him a great reputation.”17 Beyond the suspicion inspired by the topos, which still constitutes, more or less, a tale of rivalries between artists in ancient literature, there is probably some truth in what Valory reports although A.-J. Dezalier d’Argenville (who indicates rather spitefully that de Troy did not hesitate to “cut prices” to impose himself, benefitting from the productivity assured by the unlikely rapidity of his brush)18 proves to be more evasive: “As he looked to busy himself, he had offered to make the paintings that serve as models for the King’s tapestries cheaply: which did not please his colleagues. He was given a choice of two tapestry series to be made and he took the Story of Esther and that of Jason”.19 Whether or not the choice was actually left to de Troy (which would appear rather casual on the royal administration’s part all the same), it seems likely that the artist, whose contemporaries extol his “fire”, as the faculty of invention was then called, must have ardently aspired to the possibility of using on a very large scale the “creative genius” with which Dezallier d’Argenville credits him. The decoration of the private apartments, the fashion for which Louis XV had promoted at Versailles and Fontainebleau, offered little opportunity to excel in this area. Other than painting for altarpieces, only tapestries could allow comparison with Lemoyne who had been granted – unfortunately for him – a major decoration: the enormous ceiling of the Hercules Room at Versailles. Favoured by the recent improvement in France’s financial situation, the revival of patronage offered de Troy a commission fitting for him, in a field in which, however, he had hardly any experience. Anxious to renew the repertoire of models available to the Gobelins factory, the Duc d’Antin, surintendant des Bâtiments du roi from 1708 to 1736 followed by his successor, Philibert Orry comte de Vignory, gave him the task of producing seven large cartoons inspired by the Book of Esther corresponding to the brilliant sketches or modelli which de Troy had produced in one go, or almost (very few preparatory drawings can in fact be linked to the Esther cycle and all seem to be at the execution stage of the cartoons).20 Subjected to the approval of the Administration des Bâtiments according to the procedure in use for projects being planned for the Gobelins, sketches made rapidly during 1736 were approved and the project launched immediately. Thereupon came the news of François Lemoyne’s death, who, ground down by work and a victim of his private torment, committed suicide on 4 June 1737. Against all expectations, de Troy did not replace his rival in the position of First Painter (which remained vacant until the appointment of Charles Coypel in January 1747), which would perhaps have made him too obviously the beneficiary of the drama. The awarding of the position of Director of the French Academy in Rome came to console him while he had already produced (or he was in the process of finishing), in Paris, three of the seven cartoons of the cycle (The Fainting of Esther finished in 1737 and the Toilet and Coronation of Esther, both finished in 1738). De Troy, we can see, did not follow the order of the narrative but began with the subjects which apparently offered the least difficulty because he had already depicted them, or because they fall into a strong pictorial tradition (such is the case especially for the Fainting of Esther). He had hardly settled at the Palazzo Mancini in August 1738, when his first task which awaited the new director of the French Academy naturally consisted of honouring the royal commission and finishing without delay the final cartoons of the Story of Esther after the sketches he must have taken with him. As prompt as ever, de Troy discharged himself of the execution of the four remaining cartoons in only two years, by beginning with the largest format which allowed him to strike the imagination and to impose himself as soon as he arrived on the Roman stage: the Triumph of Mor’decai which was finished in 1739 (like Esther’s Banquet). The following year, the Mor’decai's Disdain and The Sentencing of Haman were brought to an end in the same Neo-Venetian style, obviously tributary to Veronese with its choice of “open” monumental architecture which is characteristic of the entire cycle.21 The series, it should be noted, was almost augmented with some additional scenes in the mid 1740s. Indeed, the first tapestry set finished at the Gobelins in 1744 proved to be unsuitable for the arrangement of the Dauphine’s apartments at Versailles for which it had been intended to decorate the walls the following year (cf infra). Informed of this, de Troy, considering that the story of Esther offered “several good subjects,” immediately offered to illustrate one or new subject among those “which could appear to be the most interesting”. The directeur des Bâtiments Orry, who managed the State’s accounts, obviously judged it less costly to have one of the tapestries widened to fill in the end of the Dauphine’s bedroom,22 which has probably deprived us of very original compositions, because de Troy had already illustrated the most famous themes, those that benefitted from a strongly established iconographical tradition and from which it was not easy to deviate The Tapestry Set of the Story of Esther Placed on the tapestry looms of the Gobelins at the end of the 1730s in Michel Audran’s workshop, the cycle created by de Troy aroused true infatuation. The few hundred tapestries made between 1738 and 1797 – all in high-warp tapestry and woven in wool and silk except for four in low-warp made in Neilson’s workshop – show the impressive success of a tapestry set that was without any doubt the most frequently woven of the 18th century in France. 29 Only three cartoons had been delivered by de Troy in 1738 when the first tapestry set was begun by Audran under the expert eye of Jean-Baptiste Oudry to whom the Directeur général des bâtiments, Philibert Orry had assigned the (weekly) supervision of the weaving. During the summer of 1738, the piece of the Fainting of Esther, which Oudry judged to be admirable, was finished. During the winter of 1742, Oudry informed Orry that about two ells of the Triumph of Mor’decai had been made “with no faults”,that the Coronation of Esther was finished and that the Esther at her Toilet “a very gracious tapestry” was “a little over half” finished. Exhibited at Versailles in 1743, these two last pieces were admired by Louis XV and the Court. On 3 December 1744, the set of seven tapestries was finally delivered to the Garde Meuble. It was intended, the honour was not slight, to decorate the apartments of the Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain whose marriage to the young Dauphin Louis-Ferdinand had been fixed for the following year (it took place on 23 February 1745). Apparently it was thought that the theme of Esther the biblical heroine and wife of a foreign sovereign was appropriate for the apartments of the Spanish Dauphine. As early as the month of March, the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel informed de Troy that her grand cabinet was decorated with the “Esther tapestry set” specifying however that “for lack of two small or one large piece, we have not been able to decorate the end of the room”. This difficulty led immediately to the Banquet episode being woven a second time in two parts (they were delivered to the Garde-Meuble on 30 December 1746) to garnish the panels on each side of the bed of the Dauphine who would hardly enjoy them (she died on 22 July 1746 and the decoration was installed for the new Dauphine Maria Josepha of Saxony). The appearance of the set’s remarkable border, which imitated a richly sculpted wooden frame, should be mentioned. Conceived in 1738 by the ornamentalist Pierre Josse-Perrot and used in the later weavings until 1768, it tended to reinforce the resolutely painterly appearance of the tapestry set which, in this regard, pushed the art of tapestry as far as its ultimate mimetic possibilities. With the exception of Mor’decai's Disdain which had been removed earlier, the “editio princeps” of the story of Esther (from then on in nine pieces) remained at Versailles until the Revolution. Of the eight surviving tapestries, four are at the chateau of Compiègne and four belong today to the Mobilier National. No less than seven tapestry sets reputed to be complete (one of them in fact only had six tapestries) would be produced officially at the Gobelins up to 1772. Literature: 1- The Œuvres mêlées of an emulator of Racine, the Abbé Augustin NADAL thus include an Esther. Divertissement spiritual which is exactly contemporary with Jean François de Troy’s cycle since it was performed in 1735 and published in Paris three years later. 2-Le Siècle de Louis XIV, 1751, 1785 ed., p. 96-97 for French ed. 3- Lemoyne and de Troy had been obliged to share the First Prize in the competition organised in 1727 between the most prominent history painters of the Académie Royale. 4- Mémoires…, pub. L. DUSSIEUX et al., 1854, II, p.265. 5-The fact that de Troy, at the risk of falling out with his colleagues, did not hesitate to make use of prices in order to convince the new directeur des Bâtiments Philibert Orry, is confirmed by Mariette who adds tersely “it caused much shouting” (pub. 1851-1860, II, p. 103). 6- Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres…, ed. 1762, IV, p. 368-369 20 Early comments on the painter are inclined to present him as a kind of “pure painter”, doing without the medium of drawing, a few intermediary studies between the Esther sketches and the large cartoons at the Louvre nevertheless show that de Troy used red chalk (see in the catalogue, the notice for the Meal of Esther and Ahasuerus under the entry drawing) to change one or other figure. 7-C. GASTINEL-COURAL (cat. exp. PARIS, 1985, p. 9-13) as well as the article by J. VITTET, exh. cat. LA ROCHE-GUYON, 2001, p. 51-55. 8-The Hermitage in St. Petersburg conserves five tapestries of these two royal gifts whose provenance still awaits elucidation (as far as we are aware). In 1766, the Grand Marshal of Russia, Count Razumovski (or Razamowski), acquired the Fainting and the Banquet extracted from the sixth weaving (J. VITTET, 2001, p. 53). 9- Lettres écrites de Suisse, d’Italie…,quoted by J. VITTET, op. cit., p. 54. 10-The tapestry set remained in the hands of a branch of the Hapsburg-Lorraine family until 1933 (ibid. P. 54). 11-Quoted by Chr. LERIBAULT, 2002, p. 97, note 269. 12-Y. CANTAREL-BESSON, 1992, p. 241. Catalogue The Esther at her Toilet Oil on canvas, 57 x 51 cm Provenance: Painted in 1736 at the same time as the six other modelli of the Story of Esther intended to be presented, for approval, to the direction des Bâtiments du Roi; perhaps identifiable among a lot of sketches by Jean-François de Troy in the post mortem inventory of the amateur, historian and critic Claude-Henri Watelet (1718-1786) drawn up on 13 January 1786 and following days (A.N. T 978, n° 30) then in the sale of the property of the deceased, Paris, 12 June 1786, n° 33; Paris, François Marcille Collection (who owned a series of six sketches from which the Triumph of Mor’decai was missing, see infra); Paris, Marcille Sale, Hôtel Drouot, 12-13 January 1857, n° 36; Asnières, Mme de Chavanne de Palmassy ( ?) collection; Paris, Galerie Cailleux; Paris, Humbert de Wendel collection (acquired from the Galerie Cailleux in 1928); by inheritance in the same family; Paris, Sotheby’s, 23 June 2011, n° 61. In order not to add unnecessarily to the technical commentary on each work, the catalogue raisonné by Chr. Leribault which contains a substantial bibliography on the series should be referred to. The other bibliographical references only concern the publications and exhibitions to have appeared and been presented more recently. Bibliography and Exhibitions: Chr. LERIBAULT, 2002, n° P. 247 (repr.); E. LIMARDO DATURI, 2004, p. 28; Exh. cat. NANTES, 2011, p. 138, n° 34, referred to in note 1; Sotheby’s catalogue, Tableaux anciens et du XIXe siècle, 23 June 2011, n° 61 (repr.). Related Works: Tapestry cartoon: The cartoon (oil on canvas, 329 x 320 cm), the third made by the artist in Paris after the sketches had been approved by the direction des Bâtiments, is in the Louvre (Inv. 8315). It previously bore the painter’s signature and the date 1738 (inscriptions which are found on the tapestries). The royal administration paid 1600 livres for it on 21 June 1738 and it was exhibited at the Salon in the year of its creation. Summary Biography 1679 (27 January): Baptism in Paris (Parish of St. Nicolas du Chardonnet) of Jean-François de Troy, son of the painter François de Troy and Jeanne Cotelle, sister of the painter Jean II Cotelle. 1696-1698: Studies (apparently rather turbulent) at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. 1698-1708: First trip to Italy. Is obliged to leave Rome in January 1711 after a tempestuous affair (a duel?), de Troy extends the traditional Roman experience as a pensionnaire at the Académie de France by also visiting Tuscany where he stays for a long time, Venice (his art in face has a strongly Venetian character) and Genoa. 1708: De Troy (whose father had been elected Director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 7 July) is agréé and immediately received at the Académie with Apollo and Diana Piercing with their Arrows the Children of Niobe (Montpellier, Musée Fabre) on 28 July. 1710: First royal commission, paid for on 10 May (a sketch representing “the Promotion of the Order of the Holy Spirit” for the tapestry series of the History of the King). 1716: Jean-François de Troy is elected Assistant Professor at the Academy. 1720: He is appointed Professor. 1723: The artist creates the double portrait of Louis XV...
Category

Early 18th Century French Baroque Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Silk, Wool

19th Century Persian Kerman Termeh Silk Embroidery Suzani in Red, Blue, Ivory
Located in Barrington, IL
The distinctive Persian Kerman Suzani (Termeh embroidery in Persian) comes from the ancient city of Kerman in Persia. The hand embroidered textile tapestry is on a red cloth background with embroidery designs in blue, purple, yellow, and brown. The Embroidered Textile piece is from the mid-1800s and is in wonderful condition. Traditionally in the Persian homes, they would use this piece as a table cover. The piece is also great to be displayed as a tapestry on the wall and away from direct sunlight to preserve its brilliant colors. Dimensions: 36" x 34" Date of Manufacture: 3rd Quarter of the 1800s Place of Origin: Persia Material: Silk embroidery on wool Condition: Good Persian Termeh...
Category

Late 19th Century Persian Antique Wool Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cotton, Silk

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