Early 18th Century French Tapestry ( 4'9" x 8'6" - 144 x 260 cm )

Early 19th Century French Empire Period Aubusson Carpet (7'4" x 8'6"-225 x 260)

Rug #: 20319 Tapestry, Gobelins Factory, France 9’0” x 6’4” (2.77 m x 1.92 m) Circa mid-18th century “The Air” or “Aurora & Cephalus”, from a set of The Four Elements From a design of Francois Boucher Structure: Slit tapestry weave. Warp: linen, natural, beige, Z-2-S, 25/in Weft: silk, Z-2, 90 wefts/in², or Wool, Z-2-S, plain tan edge and various small details No marks of origin Subject: This panel is the first of a series of four depicting classical allegories of The Elements (Air, Earth, Water, Fire). Francois Boucher created the original paintings around 1770 and the first edition of the set was woven between 1772 and 1776. “Air” was the first woven and was 3.0m x 1.85m, a taller and narrower format than our example. The figures are: male, Cephalus, dressed as a hunter; female, Aurora; and Cupid (Eros), all within a tall, airy pavilion supported by four thin colonettes and topped by a garlanded baldachin. The figures rest on a garden seat and there are trees and flowers in the background. A dog chases some birds in the foreground. In the other tapestries in the series, there are similar male/female pairings (Vertumnus and Pomona for Earth, Neptune and Amymone for Water, and Venus and Vulcan for fire). Remarks: 1. The series was copied several times between 1894 and 1897 from the original cartoons...

Wool and Silk pattern wefts on wool warp; warps/inch. Beauvais, French Royal Tapestry Workshop under the direction of Nicolas Besnier and Jean – Baptiste Oudry (1734-1753), or A.C. Charron (1753-1780). Designed by Francois Boucher Subject: La Musique (Music) No. 9 of a set of 14 panels “Fetes Italiennes” or “Italian Scenes”, showing peasants and working class folk with a few panels displaying members of the upper classes at play. “Music” is one of these. Boucher’s original drawings for Music (and other tapestries as well are in The Stadelkunst – institute, Frankfort, Germany and in a private, Paris collection. This was Boucher’s first tapestry design commission for the Beauvais factory. His other work includes the “Nobles Pastorales...

Mid-19th Century English Needlepoint Carpet ( 8'6" x 9'8"- 260 x 295 )

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