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Place of Origin: French
Antique French Tapestry Verdure Birds Wool & Silk 1920 6x7
Located in New York, NY
Antique French Tapestry Verdure Birds Wool & Silk 1920 6x7
6' x 7'3" 221cm x 183cm
"A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting birds amongst a verdure setting. Beautiful colo...
Category
1920s Baroque Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
Antique French Tapestry Pair of Tapestries Wool & Silk Tapestry Handmade
Located in New York, NY
Pair of Tapestries Antique French Tapestry Handmade Antique Tapestry Wool & Silk 3.3" x 3.10" each.
Measures: 99cm x 117cm
circa 1920
"This is a very fine pair of high quality rare authentic Antique French Tapestries made with very fine wool & silk. The detail in this piece is incredible- the artisan depicts a hunting scene in both pieces as well as extensive verdure design".
Size
Approx. 3.3" x 3.10" Each 99cm x 117cm
Serial ID #
20955k
Design
Verdure, Hunting
Origin
French
Age
1920
Category
Antique
Pattern
Hunting Scene, Extensive Landscape & Verdure
Material
100% Hand Woven Wool & Silk
Foundation Material
Cotton
Color
Beige, Gold, Ivory, Brown, Green, Blue, Red, Light Blue Pink, Mauve, Gray, Rose
Quality
Exceptionally Fine
Condition
Fantastic Condition, minute low area
About Us~
Welcome to Antique Rug Collection. Your #1 Source for handmade Antique Rugs & Tapestries at great prices, curated by leading industry expert.
We are a 6th Generation antique rug shop with 48+ years of experience working with designers, private clients, dealers, and really anyone looking for a unique antique rug at a great price.
We've made an imprint selling rugs...
Category
1920s Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Silk
Jean Claude Duprez Vintage Tapestry "Les Chevaux d’Azur", circa 1960
By Jean-Claude Duprez
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
This stunning French tapestry, titled "Les Chevaux d’Azur," was created by Jean Claude Duprez for the Atelier d’Art Contemporain la Lice, under the direction of the acclaimed Jean Pi...
Category
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Beautiful Antique Needlepoint Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Nice late 19th century French needlepoint tapestry fragment, originally made for chair cover, with a beautiful decorative design and beautiful col...
Category
Late 19th Century Aubusson Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Pretty Vintage Aubusson Style medieval museum design Jacquard Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
very beautiful Aubusson style tapestry, with a design of a medieval Rhenish tapestry (1480-1490) Basel (Switzerland), representing a royal court of France, the arms of France, with b...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
French Tapestry, Genuine Jacquard in Medieval Style - H 131 x W 190 cm - N 1439
By Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Aubusson Manufacture
Located in Paris, FR
Located a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we are a French family business
specializing in the purchase, sale, expertise, cleaning, restoration and conservation of
tapes...
Category
19th Century Medieval Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
French 18th Century Tapestry Fragment
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
This vibrant tapestry fragment hails from 18th century France. Two panels have been recently attached with brilliant blue trimming. The fabric is worn but retains its vibrant floral ...
Category
18th Century Other Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Fabric, Textile, Tapestry
671 - Beautiful Antique Needlepoint Tapestry
Located in Paris, FR
671 - beautiful antique needlepoint tapestry.
Category
1950s Aubusson Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Mid 20th Century Tapestry Signed “DUPREZ”
By Jean-Claude Duprez
Located in Beirut, LB
Mid-Century Modern French wool tapestry by Jean Claude Duprez signed at the bottom right corner , "DUPREZ".
This beautiful piece depicts birds and ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern French Tapestries
Materials
Tapestry, Wool
French Tapestry by Flemish manufactury, "court Scene", Circa 1600 - No. 1456
By Aubusson Manufacture
Located in Paris, FR
Period: 17th century
Style: High period-Renaissance-Louis XIII
Condition: Perfect condition
Material: Wool & Silk
Width: 200 cm
Height: 320 cm (possibility to modify the height in ou...
Category
Early 1600s Aubusson Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
Pretty Vintage Aubusson Style Jacquard Tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Beautiful vintage French Aubusson style tapestry with a nice design of the women and men of the town near the river inside the wood. and with beautiful colours, entirely woven with w...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
Mid Century French Petit Point Tapestry
By Jean Picart Le Doux
Located in Winter Park, FL
A small Mid Century decorative petit point wool tapestry in the style of Jean Picart Le Doux (1902-1982) entitled "Jardin de Soleils". RBC Tapisserie de Paris. Made in France. Staple...
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Canvas, Wood
1890 Antique French Tapestry Arts & Crafts Ceremonial 8x9 239cm x 257cm
Located in New York, NY
1890 Antique French Tapestry Arts & Crafts Ceremonial 8x9
7'10" x 8'5" 239cm x 257cm
1890
"This is an outstanding very large antique French tapestry- This room size piece incorporat...
Category
1890s Baroque Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
17th Century French Baroque Tapestry
Located in Allerum, SE
17th century French Baroque wool and silk tapestry. Work of Felletin, ca 1690 France.
Category
17th Century Baroque Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
Jacob weeps over Joseph's tunic, Antique Flemish Tapestry Circa 1600 - N° 1498
Located in Paris, FR
This tapestry has already been cleaned in our craft workshop
The setting sun bathed the hills of Canaan in golden light, but in Jacob’s heart, darkness reigned. He sat bent, his eye...
Category
17th Century French Provincial Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
Antique French Tapestry Rococo Tapestry Blue Wool & Silk 3x6 Handwoven Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
Rare Antique French Tapestry Rococo Tapestry Green Blue 2'8" x 5'6" (3' x 6') 81cm x 168cm Circa 1920
"A magnificent antique French tapestry with Rococo style. It has very rare in...
Category
1920s Rococo Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Silk, Wool
1970’s Wool Tapestry “La Barque De L’Ondine”
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A lovely colorful tapestry titled on the back “La Barque De L’Ondine” which roughly translates to the boat of Ondine, the Water Nymph. There are many myths and stories surrounding th...
Category
1970s Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Antique French Tapestry Verdure Noblemen Royalty Verdure 5x9 158cm x 272cm 1920
Located in New York, NY
Antique French Tapestry Verdure Noblemen Royalty Verdure 5x9 158cm x 272cm 1920
A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a scene of noblemen amongst incredible, exotic verdur...
Category
1920s Baroque Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
French Aubusson Tapestry, 18th Century
By Royal Manufacture of Aubusson
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
A fine 18th-century Aubusson pastoral tapestry depicting a romantic tryst between a hunter and a shepherdess in a typically rural and architectural-themed landscape. The tapestry is ...
Category
18th Century Louis XVI Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
after Henri Matisse Nu Bleu Wool Tapestry Wall Art Hanging. 1970's
By (after) Henri Matisse
Located in Las Vegas, NV
circa 1970's woven wool tapestry after Henri Matisse Nu Bleu.
Large panel measuring 37" wide and 56" long.
Tapestry is hung on an old wooden rod.
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Wood
Pretty Mid Century French Aubusson style Jacquard Tapestry.
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Elevate your space with this exquisite Aubusson-style tapestry featuring a romantic depiction of a loving couple in the countryside, nestled under a tree. Sheep graze nearby, and a g...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
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 Aubusson Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
Pretty Vintage French screen printed Tapestry by hand. « hunting meeting »
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Discover the elegance of this mid-century French screen printed tapestry by hand featuring the exquisite design of the renowned medieval tapestry, "Rendez vous de chasse » ( hunting...
Category
Mid-20th Century Medieval French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
Homage to Mozart, Jean Picart Le Doux - French Tapestry, Edition artist - N 1467
By Aubusson Manufacture, Jean Picart Le Doux
Located in Paris, FR
Artist: Jean Picart Le Doux
Era: 20th century
Style: Design 50s-60s
Condition: Perfect condition
Material: Wool - Hand made
Width: 200 cm
Height: 150 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Located a ston...
Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Bobyrug’s pretty vintage French medieval design hand printed tapestry
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Nice vintage French hand printed tapestry with beautiful medieval design and beautiful colors. Discover a stunning mid-20th-century tapestry, meticulously hand-printed on a cotton fo...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Cotton
French Vintage Tapestry Hunting Scene
Located in Barntrup, DE
French Vintage Tapestry from the middle of the 20th century.
A beautiful French tapestry in Aubusson style, within a flower border featuring a landscape - a hunting scene with hunter...
Category
1950s Rococo Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Fabric, Cotton
Large Antique French Embroidered Tapestry
Located in Stamford, CT
A beautiful extra large embroidered tapestry hand made in France.
A very good looking and decorative piece in a wood frame. I believe this to be a period 19th century piece that woul...
Category
19th Century Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Tapestry, Wood
18th Century French Felletin Chinoiserie Mythological Tapestry w/ Trees & Satyrs
Located in New York, NY
An 18th century French Felletin chinoiserie mythological tapestry, size 11'6"H x 17'9"W.
This grand mythological tapestry depicts a mythological forest scene, with various satyrs and other mythological figures reveling in Dionysian fashion in the confines of the woodland setting. Finely detailed, with nimble articulation of figures and form, the piece also incorporates chinoiserie motifs, with stylized trees and bushes that have Oriental styling. The lower right corner of the primary field features both the town mark and weaver's mark, as well as the French symbol of the fleur de lis. The tapestry is enclosed within an elaborate outer border, featuring pendant...
Category
18th Century Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
pretty vintage French medieval design screen printed tapestry «gallant parties»
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Nice vintage French hand printed tapestry with beautiful medieval design and beautiful colors. Discover a stunning mid-20th-century tapestry, meticulously hand-printed on a cotton fo...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Cotton, Wool
Jean Picart Le Doux Mid-Century Aubusson Tapestry
By Jean Picart Le Doux
Located in New York, NY
Mid-Century Aubusson tapestry designed by Jean Picart Le Doux (1902-1982) and handwoven at Atelier Pinton in Aubusson France. Woven in the mid-1960s, entitled "Autumn-Hiver", it depi...
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Tapestry
Rene Perrot Aubusson Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
Midcentury tapestry designed by Rene Perrot 91912-1979) and woven at Atelier Riviere des Borderies in Aubusson, France. Handwoven in wool, it dates to 1946...
Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Tapestry
Antique Tapestry Verdure Tapestry Large Handmade French Tapestry, 1920
Located in New York, NY
Antique French Tapestry Rare Fountain and scenery Large Tapestry 5x7 1920
circa 1920
"A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a scenic river including a fountain and a ...
Category
1920s Baroque Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Antique French Tapestry Handwoven French Tapestry Verdure Scenic Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
Rare Antique French Tapestry Pictorial Woodsman Verdure 1920 Tapestry Large Tapestry Wall Hanging 5'2" x 6'8" 5 x 7 153cm x 204cm
circa 1920
"Thi...
Category
1920s Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Antique French Aubusson Tapestry Rare Wool & Silk Renaissance 4x5 1890 132x155cm
Located in New York, NY
Antique French Aubusson Tapestry Rare Wool & Silk Renaissance c.1890 4'4" x 5'1" 132 cm x 155cm
"This is an outstanding antique French Aubusson tapestry- This piece incorporates ...
Category
1890s Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Wonderful Vintage French screen printed tapestry «hunting with hounds»
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Discover the elegance of this mid-century French Aubusson style tapestry made with wool and cotton , by screen printing method by hand, featuring the exquisite design of the renowned 17th to 18th...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
Pair of Antique Late 17th C. French Aubusson Tapestry Portière Border Panels
By Aubusson Manufacture
Located in New York, NY
Called portière, these antique wall hanging tapestries were handwoven in Aubusson, France in the late 17th Century (c 1680s). They both feature floral and foliage decor in a beige pa...
Category
1680s Aubusson Antique French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Pretty vintage French Aubusson style Jacquard Tapestry « the feast of Venus »
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
"Discover the timeless elegance of this exquisite vintage French tapestry featuring
a replica of the painting by 17th century French painter, Pierre Paul Rubens...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton, Acrylic
Medieval Petit Point Tapestry Around 1980 - 1m37hx1m00l - N° 1146
By Aubusson Manufacture, Royal Manufacture of Aubusson
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
1980s Aubusson Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Silk
Vintage Hand-Woven French Aubusson Tapestry of Forest Scene with Birds in Trees
Located in Barrington, IL
A beautifully hand-woven French Aubusson tapestry in the style of 17th-century Verdure tapestries, created in 20th-century France. This timeless work of textile art features a serene nature scene, with birds perched on tree branches amidst a lush, tranquil forest.
Woven in classic Verdure style, the tapestry showcases an exquisite palette of soft greens and blues, capturing the depth and serenity of the woodland landscape. The tapestry is backed with cloth and includes a sewn-in pocket for a display rod, making it ready for elegant hanging.
A stunning decorative piece that evokes the romantic charm and masterful craftsmanship of historic French weaving.
Dimensions: 6’ x 8’
Date of Manufacture: Late 1900s
Place of Origin: France
Material: Wool
Condition: Good
The Persian Knot Gallery, SKU 1974
Vintage Handwoven Tapestries, French Aubusson Tapestry, Aubusson Tapestry Pillows, European Embroidery,18th Century Antique French Tapestry, Large Wall Tapestry, Handwoven Tapestry, Modernist Tapestry, Mid Century Wall Tapestry, Antique Tapestry with Frame...
Category
Late 20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Victor Vasarely, Hand Signed Original Tapestry
By Victor Vasarely
Located in Geneve, CH
Victor Vasarely (1906-1997).
Panderlak,
circa 1983
Measures: 120 x 72 cm
Hand signed and numbered on the back, edition of 320.
Victor Vasarely, whose original name was Gyözö ...
Category
1980s Modern Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
Antique French Aubusson Verdure Tapestry
Located in Dallas, TX
77764, antique French Verdure tapestry. This hand-woven antique French Aubusson verdure tapestry depicts a landscape scene of the French countryside. ...
Category
Early 20th Century Medieval French Tapestries
Materials
Wool
European tapestry with green hue, handmade in wool
Located in Firenze, FI
This tapestry measuring 94 cm. x 82 cm. is handmade, in wool. An enchanting landscape stands out: in the center of the scene is a small, red-roofed country house, a symbol of welco...
Category
1970s Vintage French Tapestries
Materials
Wool, Cotton
Pretty Vintage French Hand Printed Tapestry Titled "the danse"
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Nice 20th century French tapestry, in style of Aubusson tapestries, with a design of a medieval museum tapestry called « La Danse » ( The Danse) and beautiful colors, hand printed on...
Category
Mid-20th Century Aubusson French Tapestries
Materials
Cotton
Tapestry Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period 1738 at the Gobelins
By Aubusson Manufacture
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...
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