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Sale Items
Vintage Sherle Wagner Handprinted Water Lillies Wallpaper, 1960s, Vibrant Blue
By Sherle Wagner
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage Sherle Wagner Handprinted Water Lillies Wallpaper, 1960s. Gorgeous, rare hand-print from Sherle Wagner in their iconic Water Lillies pattern. No longer in production. Amazing...
Category

Vintage 1960s American Hollywood Regency Wallpaper

Materials

Paper

Angelo Testa: Pair of Signed Geometric Abstract Prints in Red and Yellow, 1950's
By Angelo Testa
Located in New York, NY
Angelo Testa (1921–1984) A pair of signed geometric prints by preeminent textile designer Angelo Testa, a disciple of László Moholy-Nagy renowned for the complex abstract fabrics he ...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Prints

Materials

Paper

Beautiful Large Contemporary Landscape Tapestry 1970s
Located in Antwerp, BE
Beautiful contemporary hand knotted wool landscape tapestry, ca. 1970-1980 Hand knotted on a vertical loom in wool, vegetable colours. Perfect condition considering the age of the o...
Category

Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Original Handcolored Engraving of The Little Gull by Selby, 1826
Located in Langweer, NL
A beautifully detailed print from Prideaux John Selby's "Illustrations of British Ornithology," depicting the Little Gull in various stages of plumage. The artwork features an adul...
Category

Antique 1820s Prints

Materials

Paper

Orchid Variations: A Study of Ophrys Species in 1904 Illustrations
Located in Langweer, NL
The collage presents a curated selection of Ophrys species, each meticulously illustrated to showcase the distinctive features that characterize these unique orchids. The first ima...
Category

Antique Early 1900s Prints

Materials

Paper

Kakulu Saggiaktok Migrating Fish Stonecut Art Canada Baffin Dorset Inuit Culture
Located in Hyattsville, MD
THIS WILL BE SHIPPED IN TUBE, NO FRAME IS INCLUDED. If you want the frame (35x41) Please inquire before purchase freighting would be required. Artwork 24" x 30" Stonecut (Lithograph-like) on Paper. Pencil signed and marked by artist along bottom. Edition 47/50. Stonecut is an elegant process and Cape Dorset printmakers have refined it to a fine art. The first step is tracing the original drawing and applying it to the smooth surface of the prepared stone. Using india ink, the stonecutter delineates the drawing on the stone and then cuts away the areas that are not to appear in print, leaving the uncut areas raised, or in relief. The raised area is inked using rollers...
Category

1990s Canadian Organic Modern Prints

Materials

Paper

Luigi Miradori circa 1600 - circa 1657 "Young Sleeping Child" 17th Century VIDE0
By Europa Antiques
Located in Madrid, ES
Luigi Miradori Italian circa 1600 - circa 1657 "Young Sleeping Child" 17th century Luigi Miradori was an Italian Old Masters painter who was born in th...
Category

Antique Early 17th Century Italian Baroque Paintings

Materials

Paint

Maarten Baas Unique Where there is smoke cabinet, iconic dutch design
By Maarten Baas
Located in AMSTERDAM, NL
MAARTEN BAAS, EARLY SMOKE CABINET Important and rare piece of Dutch design of one of the most influential design of our time. Provenance. From a hairdr...
Category

Early 2000s Dutch Modern Shelves and Wall Cabinets

Materials

Wood

Carl (Karl) Everton Moon (American, 1878-1948) Portrait of Hostin Nez. (Navajo)
By Carl Moon
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carl (Karl) Everton Moon (American, 1878 - 1948) A Portrait Photograph of 'Hostin Nez." or 'Hostin Nnāez or Nez - Diné' (Najavo), depicting the head and shoulders portrait of a young man in corduroy shirt, bead necklace, hoop earrings and headband, within its original walnut frame, behind glass. Circa: Pasadena, California 1914. Stamped: 1914 Karl Moon...
Category

Early 20th Century American Navajo Photography

Materials

Linen, Glass, Walnut, Paper

Bobyrug’s Beautiful Vintage Chinese Art Deco Little Rug
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Exquisite Beijing Chinese rug adorned with a captivating design and vibrant colors. Meticulously hand-knotted with wool velvet on a cotton foundation. The intricate pattern, featurin...
Category

Mid-20th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Chinese and East Asian Rugs

Materials

Wool

Copper Kitchen Decoration Vintage Coffee Pots Smalls For Rustic Lot of four
Located in Mombuey, Zamora
Lot of 4 antique copper coffee pots for rustic kitchen decoration , Smalls vintage rustic style copper kitchen decoration They are very decor...
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Rustic Shelves and Wall Cabinets

Materials

Copper, Brass

Antique Charcoal Framed Nude Drawing 24x30
Located in Mckinney, TX
Antique Charcoal Nude Study Drawing. Newly framed and museum mounted. Part of a collection of 6. Five nude drawings, and one portrait. (Please see o...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Late Victorian Drawings

Materials

Paper

Antique Impressionist Oil Painting Italian Street Scene, Artist Signed, C1900
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique painting offers an impressionist oil on panel painting of an Italian street scene with structures and winding road, artist signed illegible, c1900 Measures- 22.5''H x 18....
Category

Early 20th Century Paintings

Materials

Wood, Paint

Antique Charcoal Framed Nude Drawing
Located in Mckinney, TX
Larger than usual. Antique Charcoal Nude Study Drawing. Newly framed and museum mounted. Part of a collection of 6. Five nude drawings, and one port...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Late Victorian Drawings

Materials

Paper

Italian painting, lake scene, 19th century
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
In the foreground, a lake surrounded by vegetation. On the left bank, several figures, some in a boat. In the background, a building that resembles a fortified castle, in a hilly lan...
Category

Antique 19th Century Italian Grand Tour Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Paint

Antique Charcoal Framed Nude Drawing 24x30
Located in Mckinney, TX
Larger than usual. Antique Charcoal Nude Study Drawing. Newly framed and museum mounted. Part of a collection of 6. Five nude drawings, and one port...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Late Victorian Drawings

Materials

Paper

Siege of Szigetvár, 1566: Lafreri's Rare Handcolored Engraving Published in 1585
Located in Langweer, NL
"Ordine con il quale l'esercito Turchesco suole presentarsi in campagna, contro de Christiani ò Persiani" Translating to: "Order with which the Turkish army usually presents itself ...
Category

Antique 16th Century Prints

Materials

Paper

Antique Charcoal Framed Nude Drawing
Located in Mckinney, TX
Antique Charcoal Nude Study Drawing. Newly framed and museum mounted. Part of a collection of 7. Six nude drawings, and one portrait. (Please see ot...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Late Victorian Drawings

Materials

Paper

Robert Natkin Framed Poster/Print- 9848
By Robert Natkin
Located in Ukiah, CA
Robert Natkin Poster- Framed Not a fine Print, but the price for a framed Natkin decorative piece ready to hang reflects this. Not a Lithograph. I believe the period to the 1970s/198...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Paper

Antique Charcoal Framed Portrait Drawing
Located in Mckinney, TX
Larger than usual. Antique Charcoal Nude Study Drawing. Newly framed and museum mounted. Part of a collection of 6. Five nude drawings, and one port...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Late Victorian Drawings

Materials

Paper

Harry Bertoia: Untitled, Framed Monotype on Rice Paper, United States 1960s
By Harry Bertoia
Located in New York, NY
Harry Bertoia (1915 - 1978) Untitled A striking monotype on rice paper by Harry Bertoia, in ochres, rusts, and greens. Professionally framed and matted. 1960's. Signed "HB" on...
Category

Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Contemporary Art

Materials

Paper

Antique Chinese Rice Pit painting of a Boat Top Quality Canton, 19th Century
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
Antique Chinese Rice Pit painting of a Boat Top Quality Canton, 19th Century. Fabulous painting. Additional information: Material: Porcelain & Pottery Type:...
Category

Antique 19th Century Chinese Paintings

Materials

Porcelain

Tapestry Brutalist Macrame, Spain 1980s
Located in DÉNIA, ES
Modern Design ! Neo Classique ! bohemian decor, macramé wall hangings should be at the top of your list. These lightweight, airy pieces are typically made with natural materials (thi...
Category

Vintage 1980s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Cord

Antique Charcoal Framed Nude Drawing
Located in Mckinney, TX
Antique Charcoal Nude Study Drawing. Newly framed and museum mounted. Part of a collection of 6. Five nude drawings, and one portrait. (Please see o...
Category

Antique Early 1900s English Late Victorian Drawings

Materials

Paper

Sandro Chia "Painter with Teddy Bears" Carborundum Etching 1989-90, Signed
By Sandro Chia
Located in New York, NY
Post Modern master Sandro Chia carborundum etching or mezzo-print titled "Painter with Teddy bears" is signed and numbered 8 of 50. Produced between 1989-90 in New York City. The pri...
Category

Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Prints

Materials

Paper

Azulejos Portuguese Hand Painted Tile Mural "Albarrada" Signed by Artist
Located in Baldock, GB
Beautiful tile mural with the "ALBARRADA" motif finely painted. Tile mural size: 29.5"H X 35.4"W (75cm X 90cm) Tile size: 5.9"W X 5.9"H (15cm X 15cm) Origin: Portugal Production...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art

Materials

Ceramic, Paint

M J Whitehand's High-Quality Large Oil Painting of HMS Hermes Aircraft Carrier
Located in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
Large oil painting by Michael James Whitehand depicting the British HMS Hermes aircraft carrier shortly after the Falklands War. The artwork exudes a captiv...
Category

Vintage 1980s Paintings

Materials

Paint

Japanese antique door / door art wall art / wabi-sabi art /1900〜
Located in Sammu-shi, Chiba
A warehouse has been used as a warehouse in Japan since ancient times. Art that reuses the windows of the storehouse. Originally, the windows were covered with plaster, but this wa...
Category

20th Century Japanese Taisho Decorative Art

Materials

Cedar

Roger Capron style ceramic block wall panel glued to wood
By Roger Capron
Located in grand Lancy, CH
An assembly of individual ceramic blocks glued to a wood panel, representing a building or a block of houses. Similar to the work of French ceramist Roger Capron.
Category

Vintage 1960s French Wall-mounted Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Wood

Important Soviet propaganda painting, "Soldiers and Peasants", USSR, 1983
Located in VÉZELAY, FR
Soviet propaganda painting: celebration of the meeting of Red Army soldiers with peasants Two Red Army scouts are warmly welcomed by a village of poor peasants, their horses are wat...
Category

Vintage 1980s Russian Other Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paint

Oversized Antique Impressionistic Landscape Oil on Canvas Painting, Signed C1920
Located in Big Flats, NY
A large impressionist painting offers oil on canvas fall landscape scene with trees and forest road, artist signed as photographed, framed, c1920Antique Oversized Measures- 43''H x...
Category

Early 20th Century Paintings

Materials

Paint, Canvas

Old IKAT Tapestry
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
Old beautiful IKAT red and Bordeaux, with a simply geometrical design: perfectly modern taste. Suitable everywhere: over an armchair, at the bottom of the bed, on the wall. On the sh...
Category

Mid-20th Century Indonesian Other Tapestries

Materials

Cotton

Young French Girl Portrait c. 1800 Oil On Canvas
Located in 263-0031, JP
Neoclassicism saturates this droll portrait of a French girl c. 1800: the high-waisted dress, the antique hairstyle "a la Titus” complemented with m...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century French Neoclassical Paintings

Materials

Canvas

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

Antique 1890s French Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Salvador Dali Lithograph with Surrealist Landscape
By (after) Salvador Dali
Located in New York, NY
Surrealist landscape with clock as faces in figures, as lithograph by Salvador Dali. Marked with edition number in pencil in lower left corner: "LIX / CC," and signed in the lower ri...
Category

Vintage 1970s European Modern Prints

Materials

Paper

Antique Classical Carved Marble Plaque with Winged Cherubs by Bertaux 19th C
Located in Big Flats, NY
Antique Classical Carved Marble Plaque with Winged Cherubs In High Relief, by Bertaux, Exposition Universelle 1889, Seated in Mo...
Category

Antique 19th Century Wall-mounted Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Antique French Aubusson Tapestry Hermes Mercury Wool & Silk Square 6x6 176x178cm
Located in New York, NY
Antique French Aubusson Tapestry Birds Wool & Silk Large 5x9 1900 4'10" x 9'2" 148cm x 280cm "This is an outstanding antique French Aubusson tapestry in a fantastic large square size- This wool & silk treasure incorporates impeccable attention to detail- Depicting a scene of Hermes and Mercury...
Category

Antique Early 1900s French Baroque Tapestries

Materials

Wool, Silk

Midcentury Abstract Vreugdenhil Oil on Canvas, Dutch 1950s, Signed & Dated
By Johannes Vreugdenhil 1
Located in AMSTERDAM, NL
Large and powerful piece by Dutch artist Joop Vreugdenhil. A piece from his early career. Although abstract in composition, upon a closer look one can see hints or architecture Abou...
Category

Vintage 1950s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Paint

Antique French Tapestry Verdure Signed 1880 Wool & Silk 5x7 153cm x 201cm
Located in New York, NY
Antique French Tapestry Verdure Signed 1880 Wool & Silk 5x7 153cm x 201cm A magnificent antique French tapestry depicting a castle amongst a river, verdure, and exotic birds. Beauti...
Category

Antique 1880s French Baroque Tapestries

Materials

Wool

Hand Tooled Decorative Folk Art Wall Charger, Iran 1950s
Located in Costa Mesa, CA
Hand Tooled Decorative Folk Art Wall Charger, Iran 1950s
Category

Vintage 1950s Persian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art

Materials

Metal

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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Antique Early 18th Century French Baroque Western European Rugs

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Silk, Wool

Antique French Tapestry Verdure Fruits Noblemen 1890 Wool & Silk 6x7 183 x 206cm
Located in New York, NY
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Antique 1890s French Baroque Tapestries

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20th Century German Decorative Art

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Located in EINDHOVEN, NL
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Located in Jacksonville, FL
PaIr of bronze pineapple wall sconces hold two candles each and add a tropical touch to any decor. Good condition with only minor imperfections consistent with age, see photos for de...
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Portrait of a woman with her face split between shadow and light titled Chilanga #1 done in encaustic and mixed media on canvas laid down on board. Signed and dated 07. Titled on a verso sticker Mark Gaskin is a Postmodern painter born in 1956 in Winnipeg Canada who blends the effects of ancient fresco and mural art with contemporary subject matter. His fascinating technique – in which his painting surfaces are purposefully distressed – conjures the textures of Prehistoric cave painting, ancient Roman painting, and Renaissance fresco...
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Located in High Wycombe, GB
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Located in London, GB
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Located in DÉNIA, ES
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Located in Langweer, NL
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Located in Houston, TX
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Studio of Miguel Canals (Spanish 1925-1995) Cherries, Birds & Flowers Oil Canvas
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