Skip to main content

18th Century Tapestries

2
228
to
45
150
76
228
228
228
14
12
10
7
6
4
741
650
1,560
1,173
284
762
401
44
6
62
44
37
117
156
145
60
25
Height
to
Width
to
217
144
75
32
15
192
120
27
15
14
21
4
2
1
1
Period: 18th Century
18th Century Needlework Picture
Located in London, GB
A charming petit-point needlework picture of floral design, in its original convex moulding frame. English, late 18th century.
Category

English Georgian Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Framed 18th Cent. French Rustic Tapestry, a Pedant Instructing Children in Music
Located in New York, NY
A framed French rustic tapestry from the 18th century, envisioning a pedant seated on a barrel, instructing a group children in music and the arts within a verdant setting. Enclosed ...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Felletin Verdure Landscape Tapestry, with Birds and Trees
Located in New York, NY
An antique 18th century French Felletin verdure landscape tapestry, size 8'10 H x 9'7 W. This handwoven antique wall hanging features two exotic birds at centre in the midst of green...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Early 18th century Flemish antique tapestry 10x13 Verdure Wool & Silk 297x384cm
Located in New York, NY
Early 18th Century Antique Flemish Tapestry Fine Verdure Wool & Silk 9'9" x 12'7"(10x13) 297cm x 384cm Circa 1720 "This is a very fine Authentic Antique Flemish wool & silk Tapest...
Category

French Baroque Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century Antique Tapestry Flemish Wool & Silk Handwoven Square Verdure
Located in New York, NY
Rare Mid-1800s Antique Flemish Tapestry Fine Wool & Silk Green/Blue 5'2' x 5'3" 158cm x 160cm Circa 1790 "This is a very fine Authentic Antique Flemish Tapestry in Wool & Silk ...
Category

Belgian Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century French Aubusson Rustic Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson genre tapestry from the 18th century, featuring a rustic scene in which a youth plays his instrument for his damsel, who is reposing in the clearing of a forest. En...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Antique 18th Century Brussels Mythological Tapestry, with Diana the Huntress
Located in New York, NY
An 18th century Brussels mythological hunting tapestry, size 9' H x 8' W, depicting the Roman goddess of the hunt, Diana, reposing in a forest setting with her attendants, with one h...
Category

Belgian Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century French Aubusson Verdure Landscape Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson verdure landscape tapestry from the 18th century, with a crane at the center of the idyllic landscape scene, sitt...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Aubusson Rustic Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson rustic tapestry from the 18th century, envisioning a wooded landscape in which several youngsters play leapfrog. Enclosed within a scrolling border of fruiting and ...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Flemish Tapestry 18th C Pastoral Landscape with Sheep and Cow with Shepherdess
Located in Houston, TX
Large tapestry with beautiful color in green and beige hues Having a lovely rose and teal color in the garments.
Category

Belgian Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century Flemish Rustic Tapestry Panel
Located in New York, NY
A Flemish rustic tapestry panel from the 18th century, featuring a lady reposing in shade of a large tree, seated with a picnic basket as her hound plays beside her. Enclosed by a sc...
Category

European Rustic Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Pastoral Landscape Tapestry, with Shepherds and Their Sheep
Located in New York, NY
A French pastoral landscape tapestry from the 18th century, envisioning a placid scene in which a shepherd and shepherdess repose under a large tree with three of their sheep within ...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Late 19th Century French Rambouillet Religious Tapestry, with Putti at Play
Located in New York, NY
A French Rambouillet pictorial tapestry from circa 1890, portraying a trio of putti at play in a paradisiacal floral setting, with peacocks and other birds in the background, within an interconnecting key design border. This is a replica from a set of the Giochi di Putti, woven after cartoons by Giovanni da...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Cent. French Felletin Pastoral Tapestry, Youths Playing Music in the Wood
Located in New York, NY
A French Felletin pastoral tapestry panel from the first half of the 18th century, depicting a seated youth playing the bagpipes and courting a seated young woman, flanked by two she...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Antique Flemish Pastoral Tapestry, circa 1740, 8'6 x 13'2
Located in New York, NY
Flemish pastoral tapestry, mid-18th century, circa 1740. Two rustic milkmaids frame a gesticulating, fallen youth in a summery, vigorously rendered verdant landscape. Stylized trees ...
Category

Dutch Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Aubusson Tapestry "The Banquet of Cleopatra", France, 18th Century
Located in PARIS, FR
Important tapestry illustrating the Banquet of Cleopatra, from the series of «The Story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra». Cleopatra and Mark Anto...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century Flemish Verdure Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A Flemish verdure landscape tapestry panel from the 18th century, featuring a verdant scene with large trees and various foliage and including a lake. Enclosed within a stylized bord...
Category

European Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Antique English Needlepoint from the Late-18th Century with Beautiful Flowers
Located in Atlanta, GA
Measures: 5'10 x 6'1. This striking, antique English needlepoint was beautifully crafted during the late 18th century and remains in remarkably good condition. It is composed of nin...
Category

British Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Antique 18th Century French Aubusson Tapestry, with Romantic Tale of Don Quixote
Located in New York, NY
An antique 18th century French Aubusson tapestry, size 8'10" H x 7'9" W. This fine, handwoven tapestry envisions a scene with Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, as he attends ...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century French Aubusson Chinoiserie Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson chinoiserie verdure tapestry, 18th century. A small bird to the left, an acanthus bush in the center, and pagodas in the left distance, within a symmetrical scrolli...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Aubusson Mythological Tapestry, with Telemachus & Calypso
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson tapestry which is very likely part of a set from 'The Story of Telemachus' woven at Aubusson between 1776 and 1800 after engraved designs by various painters including Franc¸ois Boucher Antonio Tempesta and Charles Monnet...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century English Rustic Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
An English Baroque rustic tapestry from the second quarter of the 18th century, centrally woven, featuring a rustic scene in the manner of David Teniers II, in which several villager...
Category

English Rustic Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Antique 18th Century French Aubusson Rustic Tapestry of a Family Preparing Lunch
Located in New York, NY
Antique 18th Century French Aubusson Rustic Tapestry of a Family Preparing Lunch An antique French Aubusson rustic tapestry from the 18th century, size 7'8" H x 8'9" W. This lovely ...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Late 18th Century Flemish Rustic Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A Flemish rustic tapestry from the late 18th century, featuring a “Vegetable Market” scene in the manner of David Teniers II, with vendors selling various vegetables in the foregroun...
Category

European Rustic Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Three-Part, Antique, French Embroidery, Aubusson, Tapestry, Wall Decoration
Located in Berlin, DE
Three-part, antique, French embroidery, Aubusson, tapestry, wall decoration. Antique original condition. In places in need of restoration. Dime...
Category

European Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th century Aubusson tapestry (greenery) - N°-1345
Located in Paris, FR
18th century Aubusson tapestry (greenery) - N°-1345 Close to the Eiffel Tower, We are a family business specialized in the purchase, sale and expertise of tapestries, carpets, kilim...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century Flemish Verdure Landscape Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A Flemish verdure tapestry from the 18th century, depicting two exotic birds within a profuse landscape, with acanthus plants in the foreground, bloomin...
Category

European Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

French Aubusson Tapestry, 18th Century
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

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Early 18th Century Flemish Mythological Tapestry with Odysseus and Penelope
Located in New York, NY
A Flemish mythological tapestry from the late 17th or early 18th century, envisioning Odysseus and Penelope, in a scene from the culmination of The Odyssey. Measures: 11’0” H x 10’0”...
Category

European Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Early 18th Century French Tapestry ( 7' x 7'8" - 213 x 233 cm )
Located in New York, NY
In the style of Francois Boucher (mid-18th century) Structure and materials: Warp: wool, natural, tan, Z-3-S, 19-20/in Weft: wool, Z-2-S, 50-60/in silk, Z-2-S, 50-100/in Description:...
Category

French Louis XV Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century French Aubusson Tapestry
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson genre tapestry panel from the 18th century, envisioning a hunter walking with a rifle resting on his shoulder, with a stream and a castle in the distance, and the s...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Louis XIV Style Antique French Aubusson Verdure Tapestry, Venus and Adonis
By Francesco Albani, Peter Paul Rubens, Gobelins Royal Manufactory
Located in Dallas, TX
Louis XIV Style Antique French Aubusson Verdure Tapestry, Venus and Adonis Wall Hanging 13'09 x 09'05. Drawing inspiration by Italian Baroque painter, Francesco Albani...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century Flemish Tapestry Depicting Forest, with Birds and a Hiking Man
Located in Houston, TX
Green, gold, brown and tan hues are used in this large tapestry. Forest in lovely shades of Greens and blues with birds in the upper right corner and a hiking man with a fountain I...
Category

Belgian Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Flemish Verdure Landscape Tapestry, with Exotic Birds in a Lush Setting
Located in New York, NY
A Flemish verdure landscape tapestry from the 18th century, featuring two cranes in a lush verdant landscape, with various exotic plants in the foreground and a palace in the backgro...
Category

European Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Aubusson Rustic Tapestry Panel
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson Pastoral tapestry panel from the 18th century, featuring several women in the foreground, and many more in the background, tending to their daily chores while seate...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Aubusson Rustic Tapestry Panel
Located in New York, NY
A French Aubusson rustic tapestry panel from the 18th century, featuring several women and children in the foreground, tending to various chores while seated in a grassy field, with ...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Abusson Tapestry
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
A luxurious 18th century Aubusson tapestry, depicting a rural landscape in which three shepherds watch helplessly as one of their lambs is carried off by an opportunistic wolf. Hand-...
Category

French Louis XV Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

18th Century French Pastoral Landscape Tapestry, with a Couple and Their Flock
Located in New York, NY
A French pastoral landscape tapestry from the 18th century, depicting a placid country scene with a young couple conversing and tending to their flock of sheep amidst the beauty and ...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Early 18th Century French Mythological Tapestry, with Father Time and Minerva
Located in New York, NY
A French mythological tapestry from the early 18th century, depicting Father Time and Minerva flanking a seated female figure whom Minerva crowns with a laurel garland; a fountain in...
Category

European Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century French Tapestry with Palace Scenes and Elegant Figures in a Garden
Located in Madrid, ES
This exceptional 18th-century French tapestry showcases a textile masterpiece, featuring palace scenes and elegant figures coming to life in a lush garden. The combination of wool an...
Category

Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Beauvais Tapestry, Design after Jean Berain
By Jean Bérain
Located in Paris, FR
Beauvais Tapestry, Design after Jean Berain Wool 18th Century 81 x 182 cm, 32 x 72 in Provenance, from a private French collection This tapestry comes from the so-called “Grote...
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Embroidered Holy Spirit Panel
Located in New York, NY
Embroidered Holy Spirit panel. Antique embroidered doubled sided panel in paper with original antique seeded glass and gilt carved frame, Italy, l...
Category

Italian Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Silk

Early 18thC Petit Point Embroidery of a Lady
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
An 18th Century petit point silkwork embroidery of a lady seated next to a tree, in a country landscape. Goats, a dog and sheep in the foreground. A house in the background with a sm...
Category

Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Silk

Chinese Embroidery Framed
Located in Tampa, FL
A mid 18th century Chinese embroidery probably from a Chinese robe. It's beautifully embroidered. Embroidery is depicting scenic birds, cherry bloss...
Category

Chinese Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Textile

18th Century Flemish Verdue Wall Tapestry
Located in Bradenton, FL
Stunning Flemish Verdue wall hanging of a stag pursued by dog in a wooded landscape. Rich earthen colors of greens, browns and yellows. Tapestry has 3.5" hanging straps.
Category

Belgian Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Textile

Antique Darning Sampler, 1791, by Ann Manning
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
Antique Darning Sampler, 1791, by Ann Manning. The sampler is worked in silk threads on a linen ground, in a variety of stitches. Comprises of 15 darning p...
Category

George III Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Silk

Greenery tapestry Flanders Oudenaarde - 18th century Dim 2.42x2.52 - No. 1346
Located in Paris, FR
specialized in the Purchase, Sale, Traditional Cleaning, Restoration - Conservation, Expertise - Estimation of Old and also Contemporary Tapestries, Carpets, Kilims and Textiles. We ...
Category

French Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Two Large, 18th Century Figural Tapestries from France
Located in Toronto, CA
Two large, 18th century, French figural tapestries, each with a central male figure standing in nature, one blowing a hunting horn and one with his arm raised in a searching gesture....
Category

French Rococo Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

18th Century Tapestry
Located in New Orleans, LA
Vibrant colors, bucolic scene.
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Linen

Mid-18th Century French Handwoven Aubusson Verdure Wall Tapestry
Located in Dallas, TX
This antique tapestry was handwoven in Aubusson, France, circa 1760. Almost square in shape, the colorful wall decor depicts a wooded landscape scene with a large, mature tree in the foreground, a castle in the foreground and a large bird resting on a branch; the wall hanging is further dressed with the original colorful border decorated with floral and leaf motifs. The tapestry is in excellent condition commensurate with age and use, with rich colors in the beige, green and blue palette, and is backed with a white canvas fabric. The illustrative tapestry would make an impressive addition to a large wall in a living room, entryway or staircase. Aubusson, a town on the river Creuse in central France, became a center of tapestry manufacture in the 17th and 18th centuries during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV...
Category

French Louis XV Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Tapestry, Canvas

Impressive Large French Aubusson Wool Tapestry
Located in Bradenton, FL
A Massive French 18th Century Aubusson Wool Tapestry with a picturesque scene with Antico Temples in a Palm Tree Landscape. Exotic Birds rest surro...
Category

French Chinoiserie Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Textile, Wool

Antique 18th Century English Aubusson Garden Tapestry
By Mortlake
Located in New York, NY
Charming 18th Century English Aubusson Tapestry, handwoven in wool and silk at the famous Mortlake workshop. It depicts a scene from the well known "Bacchanalia and Playing Boys" se...
Category

English Aubusson Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Tapestry, Wool, Silk

18th Century Continental Aubusson Tapestry with Figures & Dogs in Forest Scene
Located in Atlanta, GA
18th Century Continental Aubusson Tapestry with Figures & Dogs in Forest Scene
Category

Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Thread

Early 18th Century Large Rare Venetian Valance/Wall Hanging of St. Peter
Located in Doha, QA
This incredible hand crafted Italian (Venetian ) 17th- 18th century Wall Hanging /Valance originated from a gorgeous Palazzo in Venice with i...
Category

Italian Baroque Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Gold, Silver

French 18th Century Vertical Tapestry with Tree & Foliage Scene
Located in Atlanta, GA
French 18th Century Vertical Tapestry with Tree & Foliage Scene
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Thread

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

French Baroque Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Silk, Wool

Antique French Aubusson Tapestry Rug, 18th Century
Located in San Francisco, CA
Large French Aubusson Tapestry Rug, 18th Century Excellent condition. Additional Information: Dimensions: 7'9" W x 16'10" L Origin: France Period: 18th Century (1st Half)
Category

French Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Flemish Verdure Tapestry, 18th Century
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Flemish Verdure Tapestry, 18th Century. depicting two cranes in a wooded landscape, with a romantic castle in the distance. Some repairs. 8 f...
Category

Antique 18th Century Tapestries

Materials

Thread

Recently Viewed

View All