A FRANCO-FLEMISH ARMORIAL TAPESTRY, EARLY 16TH CENTURY, AND LATER |

woven with a central tablet with the coat-of-arms of Robert Chabot and Antoinette d'Illiers, attached by ribbon and enclosed within a twisted flowering wreath, set against vertical bands of madder and burgundy with repeat pattern of rows of letters, A.R., within a four-sided border with various flowering shrubs against a saffron ground

Probably supplied to Robert Chabot (d. 1518) and Antoinette d'Illiers (d. 1537) shortly after their marriage in 1503
Recorded together with an identical tapestry with Thiérard Frères, Paris, in 1935 and sold to
Auguste Lambiotte, Prémery and Biarritz on 23 April 1936 as a pair, thence by descent
Christie's, New York, 29 January 2014, lot 150 

Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Cinque siècles de Tapisseries d'Aubusson, November-December 1935, no. 2.
Paris, Palais national des Arts, Chefs d'oeuvre de l'Art Français, 1937, as a pair, no. 1306.
Musée d'Arras, La tapisserie d'Aubusson et de Felletin, 1963, as a pair, no. 3.

Lejard, André, French Tapestry, Les edition du chene, Paris, 1947, The Marche Factories: Aubusson and Felletin, pp.79-88, p.80., fig 89, Armorial bearings of Robert Chabot and his wife Antoinette d'Illiers, tapestry, end of XVth century. Thiérard Brothers' Collection.
Weigert, Rogert Armand, 'Les ateliers de la Marche, Aubusson et Felletin', La Tapisserie, Paris, 1942, pp.75-84.

Overall measurements:280cm across the top, 271cm across the bottom, 269cm along the left side, 268cm along the right side. Tapestry is lined with pale orange cotton backing, with hooks along the top edge. It is recommended that Velcro should be added for hanging purposes in the future. Outer vertical edges have textile edges applied, however the upper and lower edges are not covered or protected. There are some small areas of repair, commensurate with age, for example along the outer vertical edges, to the yellow ground, some being older than others. These repairs are brighter yellow and in a thicker wool thread, as visible in section of yellow ground in the right hand vertical border. There are areas of later reweaving to the dark ground of the far right vertical stripe of dark burgundy, especially in the top section and are centre left, again in thicker wool. Blends and compliments the surrounding, albeit finer weave. There are some repairs to the striped panels that are clearly obvious due to the difference in colour, for example section between the R and A on centre left of the far right burgundy vertical stripe, and some similar but smaller and less obvious repairs to the red ground of the far left vertical stripe, near the letter R third row up, far right of row. The top border (excluding the corners) is later reweaving, the overall section is 231cm long, made up of two joined sections, with a vertical join up the centre (left side section is 121cm and the right hand section is 109cm). The outer edges, where they join with the two original corners have shaped joins. Very professionally and competently executed later reweaving. The plants are slightly larger than those along the lower border and the sides, from which they have been inspired. This is a very evocative early tapestry in composition, colour and attention to detail. The flowering small shrubs are delightful, and all against a glorious sunny yellow.
"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."

This rare tapestry was woven as part of a suite of tapestries of identical design. One panel remaining at the château de Talcy, an early 16th century château in the Loir-et-Cher, whilst the tapestry panel paired with the current lot was sold anonymously, François de Ricqlès, Paris, 17 June 1997, lot 182.

The Chabot family were prominent in the 15th and 16th century, and established in several regions of France as comtes de Jarnac, barons de Retz, vicomtes de Tramecourt and seigneurs of regions such as Poitou, but most notably as the ducs de Rohan and princes de Léon. Robert Chabot (c. 1452-1517) was the 5th child of Renaud Chabot (c. 1410-1474), seigneur of Aspremont and of Jarnac, and his second wife Isabeau de Rochechouart (d. 1477). Notably, Renaud Chabot is recorded as having purchased the château de Jarnac from Jean d'Orléans to enable him to pay ransom for his brother Charles duc d'Orléans, who was captured at the battle of Azincourt in 1415 and kept captive until 1444. In 1503, Robert Chabot, seigneur de Clervaux and Baussay, baron d'Aspremont, married Antoinette d'Illiers, daughter of Jean, seigneur d'Illiers and Marguerite de Chourses, which is almost certainly when this suite of tapestries was commissioned. Their initials forming a distinctive part of the design of the tapestry composition. The vertically striped and alternating coloured background of this tapestry with a repeat pattern of golden yellow monograms is a rare survival of early armorial tapestry design.

A miniature painting of 1458, depicting the trial of Jean, Duke of Alençon, and shows the court proceedings set against a background of red, white and green striped tapestries with the armorial devices of Charles VII. It is considered one of the earliest representations of this simulated fabric-hung background (see Campbell, Thomas, Tapestry in the Renaissance, exhibition catalogue, New Haven, 2002, p. 21). There are some distinctive surviving tapestries with a striped background design include a suite with repeating stripes, of the same colours as the above cited miniature, which incorporate floral motifs and foreground figures in a rose garden, date from circa 1450-1460, and are now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (see Cavallo, A, Medieval Tapestries in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, pp. 174-189, no. 8). Several armorial tapestries with striped grounds were recorded by the 18th century art historian François Roger de Gaignières (d. 1715) in his archive of drawings of tapestries in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, including that of René II, duc de Lorraine, and his wife Philippine von Geldern, which must pre-date 1507, and Jacques III d'Estouteville and his wife Jeanne, who were married in 1509. Other, slightly later examples include armorial tapestries for Henry VIII and also Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre.  The cyphers represent an important design feature that appears in Medieval tapestries either as the main focus or to identify the patron of the work. Several armorial tapestries in Gaignières' drawings employ this design. For detailed discussion of the use of emblematic devices, portraits and heraldry in his influential tapestry designs, see Flemish Tapestry in European and American Collections: Studies in honour of Guy Delmarcel, Belgium, 2003, Pascal-François Bertrand, Tapisseries de Flandres et autres tentures parmi les dessins d'archéologie de Roger de Gaignières, pp.23-35).

The mille-fleurs ground found in the borders of the offered lot is a design that evolved circa 1450-1460, with one of the first fully developed surviving examples being the armorial tapestry of Philip the Good of Burgundy woven in Brussels in circa 1466, now in the Historisches Museum, Bern (Rapp-Buri, A, & Stucky-Schürer,  M, Burgundische Tapisserien, Munich, 2001, pp. 116-117, no. 104). This genre of tapestry, however, remained popular until the mid-16th century. The repeating pattern of individual and randomly combined cartoon panels of floral sprays is closely related to mille-fleurs tapestries woven in Bruges (see Delmarcel, G, and Duverger, E, Bruges et la Tapisserie, 'exhibition catalogue', Bruges, 1987, pp.192-203). Similar designs were also woven in the Marche workshops in Felletin and Aubusson, and the offered tapestry was historically attributed to that region (see abovementioned exhibition catalogues).