A PONTREMOLI NEEDLEWORK CARPET, LONDON, ENGLAND |

worked in tent stitch, in gros-point with details in petit-point, with the Elizabethan design, by the workshop of Jacques Mereno Pontremoli (1886-1952), the very pale yellow field with an open overall design of bold greenish yellow scrolling vines bearing a profusion of naturalistic and stylised flowers, including carnations, lilies, tulips, lilac, bluebells and sunflowers, all with leaves, all within a narrow 'S' scroll border, with Tudor roses at each corner,

According to family tradition, these carpets were a commission for the Hon. Arthur C E Somerset (1859-1948), great-grandson of 5th Duke of Beaufort and grandson of Lord Fitzroy Somerset, later to become Lord Raglan (having fought with Wellington at Waterloo, and commanded the allied forces in the Crimea), and his wife Louisa Somerset (d.1940), made circa 1924, for the Ballroom (reputedly then the largest private ballroom in London) of their home at 8 Stratford Place (where Queen Mary, as godmother to their daughter Blanchie, would have been a regular visitor) 
Stratford Place until 1945
Re-located in 1945 to Kingstone Lisle Park, Oxfordshire
Thence by descent

Overall measurements: 425cm across the top, 423cm across the bottom, 619cm the left hand side, 616cm the right hand side. Initials JMP worked in black petit-point tent stitch in the lower right corner. Colours in photograph are too yellow in hue. In reality the carpet is cream colour, lighter and far more attractive. Field colour originally pale yellow (still visible colour on reverse), now faded on front to light cream colour.Needlework still in very sound condition. Watermark stain centre left, slight yellowish disc lower right. Scattered spotting. Carpet has probably not been cleaned in a while and would likely benefit from a professional clean. Very rare to see a Pontremoli carpet of this size at auction.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The two Pontremoli needlework carpets offered here (as lots 37 & 38) both exemplify the exquisite hand worked designs of Jacques Mereno Pontremoli (1886-1952), who sometimes, as here, signed his pieces with the initials JMP, in an outer edge of a corner. The Pontremoli family, of Italian Sephardic origin, established workshops in Paddington, West London in 1910, supplying home furnishings, particularly including antique carpets and textiles. They became especially well known in the 1930's through to the 1950's for the combination of their two fields of expertise, and produced needlework carpets and rugs which were based upon 16th and 17th century textiles and early English needlework carpets. In 1931 there was a campaign to encourage the public to purchase items of English manufacture and the Pontremoli family took this exhortation to heart, using British materials and training local women to work with them, with great success. They were commissioned to produce pieces, as recorded in their archives, for Embassies in London and overseas and for many distinguished homes. Pontremoli's patrons included H.M. Queen Mary (who granted Pontremoli a Royal Warrant), H.R.H. The Duke of Kent and Her Majesty the Queen, Henry Channon, M.P. amongst others. The carpets offered here, were a pair commissioned for the ballroom of the Somerset home at Stratford Place, and each piece is recalled to have taken eleven ladies, two years to complete. Many of Pontremoli’s carpet designs originate from the long and rich tradition of European carpets and textiles. Earlier pieces were in the Directoire, Regency or Adam styles, complementing architectural interiors. Then the designs became more typically, beautifully balanced compositions including overall main fields of floral and foliate designs, often with overall isolated individual flowers and/or scrolling foliate trails, with complementary borders which sometimes incorporated the distinctive Tudor rose motif in the corners, or a flowerhead flanked by stylised stems. The intricacy of the petit point work more often found only in isolated motifs, is evident in the present examples in all the flowers. The ground colours were often a pastel shade, and in the offered pieces are a pale yellowish ivory colour, with pastel shade floral and foliate motifs. The Pontremoli pieces, having been worked in a mix of gros and petit point stitches, along with the distinctive delicate pastel colour range, all combined to convey an overall effect of flowers on the ground underfoot.  For comparable examples sold at auction, see a JMP signed example, early 1930’s, with eau-de-nil ground (562 by 326cm), Christie’s, London, 23 May 2012, lot 375, previously from Edward James Collection, West Dean Park, sold by Christie’s, 6 June 1986. For another similar, Pontremoli needlework small carpet, initialed JMP, circa 1920 (292 by 175cm), with pale yellow ground, the floral field centred with fruit and with birds in each corner, see Sotheby’s, New York, Property from the Collection of Mary Sayles Booker Braga, 19–20 October 2015, Lot 707. For a very distinctive signed Pontremoli carpet, circa 1935, (1171 by 450cm) with spandrels with horizontal rows of stylised flowerheads and a similar floral design on a beige ground, see A Celebration of the English Country House, Sotheby’s, New York, 29 April 2002, lot 804 (which when sold at Sotheby’s, in October 1988, made a record price of $209,000). 

Lewis, The Pontremoli Collection, Leigh-On Sea, Publishers Limited, 1942 
Mayorcas, J., English Needlework Carpets, 16^th – 19^th centuries, Leigh-On Sea, Publishers Limited, 1963