THE EMPEROR OF CHINA TAPESTRY SERIES

This tapestry formed part of the exotic and highly elaborate tapestry series, the Story of the Emperor of China (Histoire de l'Empereur de la Chine), which aimed to represent the peaceful everyday life of the Chinese Manchu Qing Dynasty Emperors, Shunzhi (reigned 1644-1661) and Kangxi (reigned from 1662-1722) and their Empresses. Many of the images are based on Johan Nieuhof's, Legatio batavica ad magnum Tartatiae chamum sungteium, modernum sinae imperatorem of 1665, which was derived from the visit of a delegation of the Dutch East India Company to China. As the title 'Roi de Chine' implied, the series was intended to illustrate the Chinese Royal Court. The artists were keen to incorporate as many 'documented' exotic objects as possible in these tapestries. The French trading company, Compagnie des Indes Orientales, was founded in 1664, as part of the general reorganisation at the time of the French economy, which was aimed at strengthening the monarchy. Through them the King could acquire the best oriental luxuries at reasonable prices, whilst his courtiers were obliged to compete with one another for costly Asian imports. The founding of this company coincided with the European vogue for chinoiserie. Such was the influx of goods and especially textiles in the 1660/1680s, that France in 1686 and later England introduced prohibitions to protect their own industries, although they did not prevent imports and re-export.

The set's success was undoubtedly due to the increased interest in China at the end of the 17th century. Inspiration for the memorable series was perhaps inspired by the following events in the French court. In 1684 Pere Couplet (1623-1693), a Jesuit missionary from Mechelen (Belgium), arrived from China at Louis XIV’s court at Versailles along with his convert from his trip, Michael Alphonsus Shen Fu-Tsung. They were of great interest to the learned and curious scientists and court, fuelling the interest of Louis XIV’s young son, the duc du Maine, and resulting in a group of Jesuit mathematicians departing for China in 1685 to establish a French mission, taking with them a letter from the King to the Manchu Qing Dynasty emperor as a peer and an ally “Great, powerful and generous is the undefeatable prince, our valued friend” (never delivered). The enthusiasm for the East was further encouraged as a result of Louis XIV's glamorous and exotic reception at Versailles for the ambassadors of Siam (Thailand) in 1686, led by Kosa Pan. The gifts, exotic clothes, good manners and kowtowing of the visiting embassy causing a sensation. The Beauvais manufactory received visits from both the King and the Siamese delegation in 1686, and this encouraged the director, Behagle, to initiate exuberant designs to complement the History of the King series of tapestries, undertaken by Charles Le Brun, 1661-1668, at the Gobelins manufactory for Louis XIV.

The series of The History of the Emperor of China tapestries included ten subjects with modern titles: The Emperor on a Journey (L’Empereur en voyage), The Emperor Sailing (L’Embarquement de l’empereur), The Empress Sailing (L’Embarquement de l’emperatrice), The Return from the Hunt (Le Retour de la chase), The Empress' Tea (Le Thé de l’emperatrice), The Collation (La Collation), The Harvesting of the Pineapples (La Recolte des ananas), The Astronomers (Les Astronomes), The Harvesting of Tea (La Recolte du Thé: as yet unidentified) and the most celebrated of all, The Audience with the Emperor (L’Audience de l’empereur). Two of the subjects in the series are always wide compositions, The Audience with the Emperor and The Return from the Hunt, of which there were more versions of the former woven, probably due to being a more exuberant composition and because clients would only want one wide tapestry and not two in a series. Both have a central focal point of the depiction of a throned emperor, which is considered to be adapted from the title page of Nieuhof’s, Het Getzantschap (Fig. 1.)

The first series of nine tapestries was finely woven with wool, using expensive materials of silk and silver and gold thread, at the Beauvais manufactory - this was under the directorship of Behagle, and was for Louis-August de Bourbon, duc du Maine, but has not survived. However, a fourth set of six tapestries commissioned by the Compte de Toulouse (1678-1737) second son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan have survived. Woven circa 1697-1705, they include The Collation (signed Vernansal), The Harvesting of the Pineapples (signed Behagle), The Astronomers, The Emperor on a Journey, The Return from the Hunt (signed Behagle) and The Empress’ Tea, all woven within a border including corner cartouches enclosing the crowned arms of Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, Comte de Toulouse (1678-1737), and his monogram in the centre of all borders, in the J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (Acc. Numbers: 83:DD.336 - 83:DD.340, and 89:DD.62)

Three border designs were used for the series: wide frame pattern border with coat-of-arms, another with Chinese figural and grotesque pattern, and the most usual border of the narrow acanthus leaf pattern.

Phillipe Behagle (1641-1705), was the director in charge of the Beauvais Manufactory from 1684 -1705. Beauvais manufactory records are scant but there are some listed in 1731, under the later director, Noel-Antoine Merou (1722-1734) which included a series called “Chinoise faint par quarter illustre peintre…”, and notes the designers involved “…tenture du dessein des Chinois, par les sierras Baptiste, Fontenay et Vernansal.” Baptiste being the name by which Monnoyer was known. Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) and Jean Baptiste Belin de Fontenay (1653-1715) were both primarily flower painters. Monnoyer was active at Versailles and at both the Gobelins and Beauvais Manufactories, before leaving French for England in 1690, hence the designs being completed before this date. He worked closely on the designs with Guy Vernansal (1648-1729) who was recognised for his figural work in paintings and is therefore considered to be the main designer of the series. There are two weavings of the subject of The Collation (one of which is in the Getty Museum) which are inscribed Vernansal Invt. Et Pint, and two of his paintings in the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Orleans are similarly signed.

See Sotheby’s, New York, 28 January 2022, Master Paintings Part II, lot 333, for a modello for the tapestry, Journey of the Emperor, attributed to Guy-Louis Vernansal, Paris, 1648 -1729, oil on canvas (76.2cm by 114cm), (Fig. 2). It is a rediscovery of a preparatory design from which a cartoon would have been created for use by the weavers. It does not show a border. The composition of both the modello and the cartoon would be in reverse of the final tapestry woven. This composition shows the figures kow-towing in the foreground, in the same way they are shown in the tapestry of The Audience with the Emperor.

The Beauvais series of ‘Grotesques’, was designed by Jean Baptiste Monnoyer, in the manner of Jean Berain I (1640-1711) and was of distinctive design which comprised of various small figures dancing and playing music, along with exotic animals such as the camel and the elephant in the foreground of a delicate fantastical framework of arches upheld by columns against a wonderful yellow ground. Some of the series were woven with a particularly evocative Chinese-inspired border, with the main cartouches and niches in the centre of each border including distinctive seated and reclining Chinese figures in military or ceremonial attire, under the canopy of umbrellas. These borders were designed by Monnoyer and Vernansal, with the Chinese elements being by Vernansal inspired by Berain, which show vertical format grotesque designs centred with a seated Chinese figure. The tapestry series was only given the name 'The Berain Grotesques' circa 1850. This Chinese-inspired border type is found on weavings from The story of the Emperor series, located in the Louvre Museum, Paris (see details below).

The series was extremely successful. A testament to this is that they were woven by the Beauvais manufactory over a period of forty years. They were constantly on the looms from 1690 through to 1732, with no fewer than eighteen sets woven (a conservative estimate). The series was finally abandoned at Beauvais in 1732, when the cartoons were so worn that they could no longer serve their purpose. The series served as inspiration for a later, much simplified, series, woven at the Royal Beauvais manufactory and then the Royal Aubusson manufactory, after Dumons, confirming that the chinoiserie subject still had appeal and success on the market.

COMPARABLE TAPESTRIES

Example of weavings of The Audience with the Emperor, with the same narrow red and gold acanthus leaf pattern border type:

The Audience with the Emperor, circa 1700, approx. 400cm by 509cm, Louvre Museum, Paris, Donor - Marie-Louis Grog-Carven (Acc.No. 1996 OA 10446);

The Audience with the Emperor, circa 1685-1740, approx. 314cm by 465cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Mrs J. Insley Blair, 1948 (Acc.No. 48.71);

The Audience with the Emperor, pre-1732, possibly under the directorship of Noel-Antoine Merou (director 1722-1734), though unlike others woven under his control, this example is not signed, approx. 318cm by 503cm., Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,Roscoe and Margaret Oakes (de Young) Collection (Acc. No. 59-49.1).

Example of weaving of The Audience with the Emperor, with alternate border type:

The Audience with the Emperor, circa 1697-1705, Empress Tea Room, Musee National du Chateau de Compiegne, with four-sided frame pattern border with crowned cabochon with fleurs-de-lys in each corner. Another tapestry from the series in the collection included The Emperor on a Journey. Both are signed Behagle.

The Audience with the Emperor, circa 1685-1735, approx. 417cm by 540cm, Louvre Museum, Paris (No. SR 109), with three sided border, design with niches with Chinese figures and grotesque details within strapwork.

Other tapestries from this series in this collection include The Emperor on a Journey (No.SRO 106), The Empress taking tea (No.SRO 107), and The Embarkation of the Empress (No.SRO 108).

Other weavings are recorded in the following collections: the Residenz Museum (Bavarian National Collection, Munich (with fantastical Chinese head border); the Hermitage, St Petersburg; the Wernher Collection, Luton Hoo; the Banque de l’Union Parisienne, Paris (for an especially wide weaving, with three people behind the chariot and and an extra figure on the far right), and the Singraven collection, Denecamp, Holland.

Examples of The Audience with the Emperor tapestry offered at auction:

For a very similar weaving of The Audience with the Emperor, late 17th/early 18th century (reduced in height and width: approx. 338cm by 460cm), with the narrow acanthus leaf pattern border, see Christies, New York, 23 October 2003, lot 776, Provenance: Paul Morand, Palais d’Orsay, Paris, 17 November 1977, lot 273; Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 19 November 1993, lot 78.

Others recorded are: 1) Sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 22 June 1991, lot 535. (2) Collection of the Credit du Nord, Paris.

Other tapestries from the series, with alternate border type:

There are examples of six tapestries from the series, woven circa 1697-1705, including The Collation (signed Vernansal), The Harvesting of the Pineapples (signed Behagle), The Astronomers, The Emperor on a Journey, The Return from the Hunt (signed Behagle) and The Empress’ Tea, all woven within a border including corner cartouches enclosing the crowned arms of Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1678-1737), and his monogram in the centre of all border, in the J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (Acc. Numbers: 83:DD.336 - 83:DD.340, and 89:DD.62)

THE ORIGIN OF THE GERMAN BERLIN TAPESTRY SERIES

The already strong interest in the Orient at the court in Berlin was further driven by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), a German polymath who promoted the contact and the exchange of ideas with China. He was in correspondence with Simon de la Loubère (1642-1729) , who was sent to Siam (Thailand) as Ambassador by Louis XIV in 1687. It was Sophie Charlotte of Hanover (1668-1705), Queen Consort, wife of King Frederick I of Prussia, who showed particularly keen interest in Leibniz's studies and between 1755-1764, she had built and decorated her Chinese pavilion in Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, with Chinese works of art. It was in the popular chinoiserie style of a mixture of rococo elements and Chinese-inspired architecture and motifs. It is possible that it was she who provided the impetus for the first weaving of this series in Berlin.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 allowed many families of weavers in the Aubusson region to immigrate to the Rhine. They concentrated in the three weaving centres, Berlin, Erlanden and Schwabach and took with them the connoisseurship and experience acquired at Aubusson. Abandoning the classical subjects popular with French manufacturers, the weavers began to create their own designs. Jean Barraband, an Aubusson weaver, left France and opened his own workshop in 1699, in Lustgarten, Berlin, and his son, Jean II Barraband, succeeded him in 1709. A tapestry of The Audience with the Emperor, woven in 1713, was one of the workshop’s first weavings. The Barraband workshop primarily relied on private client commissions, although they occasionally received grants or commissions from the Elector. They had to show economic initiative and therefore took inspiration from popular designs from other tapestry workshops to ensure success and this included the Story of the Emperor of China, and the Audience with the Emperor in particular. Their designs of the subject of The Audience were a close representation of the Beauvais design. The other subjects were largely redrawn by the Berlin workshop and were much simpler in overall design.

The scenes are in part based on Peter Schenk’s publication of prints, Picturae sinicae ac surattenae, vasis tabelisque exhibitae, admiranda colligente Petro Schenkio, Amsterdam, 1702. Various printed sources including the drawings by both Simon de Vries and Johan Nieuhof were widely used for lacquer, porcelain and cabinet-work which was produced in Berlin in the early 18th century. They particularly inspired the border designs of the Berlin tapestries. The first complete Berlin workshop woven Story of the Emperor of China series was ordered by Prince Alexander von Donna and was delivered in 1713. Until WWII, the tapestries were displayed at the Schloss Schlobitten, Prussia. Five tapestries belonging to the Prince of Liechtenstein decorated the Schloss Valtice at Feldsberg in Moravia in 1935.

For an example of a Berlin woven tapestry of The Audience of the Emperor, from the series The Story of The Emperor of China, Berlin workshop of Jean Barraband or Jean II Barraband, first half 18th century, (333cm by 530cm), see Sotheby’s, New York, 3 October 2006, lot 41. It was particularly exuberant in having a border of chinoiserie style, including Chinese figures, blue and white porcelain and other objects of art. Woven in reverse of the original Beauvais design, and with some changes to the foreground elements and background. Another weaving of this subject, in reverse, with a narrow acanthus leaf pattern border (327 by 454cm) was sold Christie’s, London, 14 December 2006, The Carrara Rizzoli Collection, lot 51. Others from this set were offered in this auction.

THE ELEPHANT AND THE MENAGERIE

Elephants had been known in Europe and in France for centuries before they were depicted in these French tapestries of the 17th century. Live elephants were seen by Europeans when Alexander the Great descended into India in 327BC. Four elephants are recorded to have guarded his tent. The Romans brought elephants up through Europe and into England in 43AD. In the Medieval period, Emperor Charlemagne had three menageries, located in present day Netherlands and Germany, and housed the first elephants seen in Europe since the Roman Empire. He received the animals as gifts from the rulers of Africa and Asia. In 787 Charlemagne was presented with a Asian elephant named Abdul-Abbas, by the caliph of Baghdad. As a result of the failed Seventh Crusade in 1254 to Egypt by Louis IX of France was given an African elephant by the Egyptians to create an alliance with them against the Syrians. Later King Louis IX presented Henry III of England with a gift of an elephant in 1255, and various elephants were introduced into Europe as diplomatic gifts to the Popes. Amongst the artistically-recorded profiles of elephants over the centuries seen in frescoes, manuscripts and bestiaries, there were later imagery which circulated, including ‘Hanno the elephant and Harout’, 1514, after Raphael, a white elephant gifted by King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X on his coronation in 1514. A 1629 print by Wenceslaus Holler (1607-1677) included a central image of an elephant in profile, surrounded by smaller images. Although it was meant to represent a known elephant called Don Diego that arrived with the Portuguese in 1620 and travelled extensively through Europe, including France, this printmaker took inspiration from earlier images including that of Gerard von Groeningen of 1563 celebrating an elephant seen then in the Netherlands. These later 17th century prints disseminated the image of the elephant further. Nieuhof’s illustration of a profile elephant depicted long tusks and large ear (Het Getzantschap, 1655, pl.153) (Fig. 3).

In the 17th century, various celebrity animals, including Hansken the elephant, who was brought to Holland from Ceylon in 1637, toured many European countries and were depicted by artists including Hansken by Rembrandt in 1638. They were not an unknown animal at the time of these tapestries inspiration, but were still associated with the status and with the exoticism and luxury of the East. To own these large exotic animals indicated wealth and power, as they were difficult to acquire and expensive to maintain.

In France, in the 1660s, Louis XIV had constructed two menageries, one at Vincennes (a menagerie of ‘ferocious beasts’ that included elephants, lions, tigers, leopards for fighting) and a more elaborate example at Versailles, the site of the royal hunting lodge, and this became a model for menageries in Europe. In 1682, just before the tapestry series of the Berain Grotesques Tapestry, with an elephant and The Audience with the Emperor, with an elephant were designed, Louis XIV hosted the ambassador of Persia at Vincennes and presented the spectacle of a fight between a tiger and an elephant. These fights were stopped in 1700. The animals were moved to Versailles, where they were installed into a menagerie where the animals were now treated as curiosities, and were housed in a series of beautiful pavilions with walled and barred enclosures, all within the park. It was started in 1664 and finished in 1668-1670. Such was the appeal of this arrangement that European monarchs, princes and aristocracy now obtained exotic animals and exotic birds for their menagerie collections (rather than for their gardens or game parks for hunting), which in turn became the foundation of zoos (for scientific research), the first formal zoo being created in France in the 18th century . Other elaborately housed menageries included Chantilly, France (1663), Potsdam, Prussia (1680), Het Loo, United Provinces (1748) and various others in the 18th century, in Austria, England, Germanic territories, Portugal and Spain. These were the culmination of various menageries across Europe over the centuries.

Following on from Pliny, the elephant was considered to have advanced intellectual abilities. The elephant was associated with royal power and protection, and with lifting the monarch from the ground as a mount (stemming back to their original military role). They are often depicted flanking doors and gateways. They were symbolic of nobility, wisdom, strength and protection. The depiction of the elephant in this tapestry adheres to these attributes and the profile depiction is in the tradition of earlier representations. The profile elephant with large ear, bedecked in elaborate textile coverings and held by an attendant, is the pose used by Monnoyer and Vernansal in the Beauvais series of The Grotesque and The Story of the Emperor tapestries, albeit facing in different directions.

Both series of tapestries with elephants include a delicate architectural structure perhaps evocative of pavilions in gardens. The elephant is perhaps in the enclosure of a menagerie in the Grotesque tapestry, and is shown as guarding a royal personage, in this case the throned Emperor, under the canopies of a Chinese pavilion in the Story of the Emperor tapestry. The pavilion shown here has facing cusped arched canopies and arched canopies at the sides. These are inspired by historic imagery of Gothic architecture and images of Chinese buildings published in travel diaries, such as those by Nieuhof. In 1670 Louis XIV had a Chinese pavilion, The Trianon de Porcelaine, constructed in the grounds and surrounded by the formal gardens of Versailles. This chinoiserie structure included five wood framed pavilions, decorated with blue and white faience ceramic tiles (produced in France and in Delft in the Netherlands), a style considered to be Chinese, and emulating the accounts of the porcelain tower of Nanjing. It was used as a banqueting house and the gardens in three parts were constantly replaced with flowers throughout the year. Flowers at one end were balanced with the menagerie collection at the other. This exotic pavilion was replaced with a permanent stone structure in 1687 of different style, for use by another of the Kings’s mistresses. Each tapestry is the series of the Story of the Emperor has a variation on a theme of an exotic garden pavilion, combining rococo styles with designs inspired by Chinese architecture, some of the pavilions including tiles on the elaborate canopy roof.

The variety of birds ranging from small domestic species, to more exotic peacocks, herons, parrots and statues of more fantastical birds would have been inspired by those imagined, seen and those recorded in travel diaries and paintings. For many of the botanical details Athanasius Kircher's, China Monumentis qua Sacris qua Profanis of 1667, seems to have served as inspiration, along with Nieuhof, 1655.

JOHAN NIEUHOF

Johan Nieuhof’s Het Gezantschap der Neêrlandtsche Oost-Indische Compagnie, aan den grooten Tartarischen Cham, den tegenwoordigen keizer van China (translated into English as An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China deliver'd by their excellencies, Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer, at his imperial city of Peking……), published in Amsterdam in 1665, with initial Dutch and French versions published by van Meurs, was one of the earliest European attempts at an accurate description of China and its population.

Following service in Brazil with the Dutch West India Company in the 1640s, Johan Nieuhof (1618–1672) joined the Dutch East India Company (or VOC) in 1650 and was stationed for several years in Batavia (Jakarta), where he was eventually appointed steward of the embassy in 1654. The following year Nieuhof served on one of the embassies sent by the VOC to Peking (Beijing) with the intention of convincing the Qing Emperor, Shunzhi (r.1644-1661) to open trade relations on the south coast following the VOC’s failed attempt to end the Portuguese monopoly on trade to Macao. The ambassadors that he joined were Pieter de Goyer and Jacob de Keizer. Leaving Canton (Guangzhou), the embassy travelled northwards through Jiangxsi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Hebei provinces, reaching Peking in July 1656 before embarking upon their return trip in October of the same year and covering 1500 miles. Although unsuccessful in negotiating trade arrangements with the emperor, they did gain permission to return to the court every eight years.

Despite the increased globalisation in trade and knowledge, it was due to the isolation of China under the Ming dynasty that earlier descriptions of China relied on fanciful tales and legends, many of which originated from ancient and medieval texts and hearsay. The information was gathered and collated by Johan Nieuhof (1618-1672), a Dutch traveller and author, who was one of an embassy party which visited the Emperor in Beijing. The book consists of accounts of an embassy of the Dutch East India Company to the Shunzhi Emperor (1638-1661) and that of general Chinese customs and occupations. Nieuhof’s first-hand accounts allowed accurate descriptions and depictions of Chinese architecture, clothing and landscapes. Nieuhof compiled his notes and sketches from the embassy into the publication, the first part describing his journey and the second containing a general description of the Chinese Empire. Though prepared upon a brief visit home in 1658, it was not published until 1665; the first edition, in Dutch, was swiftly followed by translations into French (1665), German (1666), and English (1669). The Latin translation, Legatio batavica ad magnum Tartatiae chamum sungteium, modernum sinae imperatorem published in 1668, was the work of the notable German biblical scholar, historian, and Adamite alchemist Georg Horn (1620–1670), who himself had a long-standing interest in China and particularly Chinese history. The Latin edition (like the Dutch, French, and German versions) was published by Jacob van Meurs, noted as a publisher and engraver of heavily illustrated works, especially in the fields of geography and travel. Van Meurs commissioned almost 150 engravings after Nieuhof’s drawings, illustrating the work with images of Chinese people, customs and fashions, architecture and infrastructure, towns and landscapes, animals, flora and fauna. He described flowers that would be unknown in Europe until the 19th century.

NIEUHOF AND CHINOISERIE

Chinoiserie (from the French for Chinese) was not an authentic version of life in China but one imagined through the travel writings of missionaries, diplomats and traders over several centuries. As access to the country was heavily restricted from the 14th through to the 16th century, and then only through the port of Guangzhou (Canton), only heightened the mystery. The Nieuhof publication and widespread translations had a very influential impact on Europe contributing to the continued fascination of the East and the resulting chinoiserie style. It was found in architecture, interior decoration, gardens, luxury objects, fashion and cultural habits, including the presentation and drinking of tea. Nieuhof’s book contained an early descriptions of the cultivation of tea, specifically stating its expense and its value to East Asian society. This description may have led to the English East India Company seeking to profit from the crop, initially through trade with Dutch merchants in Batavia (later Jakarta), and later through its introduction to the company's Indian territories. One of the tapestries in the series was recorded as depicting the Harvesting of Tea, but it not known.

This European taste for the chinoiserie style in the late 17th and 18th centuries, manifested itself in a wide range of artistic fields, including interior decoration, fabrics, ornaments, tablewares in silver and ceramics, such as Sèvres porcelain in France and Meissen in Germany, through to garden design and the ornamental pagodas found in Britain and Germany and other European countries. Admiration became imitation, especially as demand was higher than supply. Many of the objects in Europe were made especially of the European market. Tapestries were inspired in design and included many of the items but were not imported themselves. The tapestries depicted a combination of the styles that intrigued Europe. In French tapestry series of The Story of the Emperor of China, the scenes presented elements associated with China, but included other exotic items such as the inspired Persian carpet. English chinoiserie tapestries, woven by Vanderbank in London, circa 1690/1700 included Indian and Chinese elements, groups of small figures, exotic flora and fauna, all on little island outcrops. These exuberant tapestries in various courts across Europe not only depicted the objects but covered the walls of the rooms which encased them. For example, a set of the English chinoiserie tapestries owned by Queen Mary complemented her extensive Chinese porcelain collection.

These highly decorative and evocative chinoiserie tapestries revealed a complex set of influences and considerations of those who were involved with them, whether makers, merchants or those that had access to owning and seeing them. The chinoiserie series of France, Germany and England were distinctive and very popular at the time, and records the era's global outlook and interest in travel and trade. In time, the conjured-up images of the East were superseded by the opening up of extensive trade and the familiarity with the Orient. The appeal and the presence of the objects extended into the wider public, although a Chinese or Chinese-inspired porcelain teapot was far easier to source than a chinoiserie tapestry. The tapestries too revealed the spread of their influence as they moved from being in the French royal family, aristocracy, ministerial ranks and were later woven in full and part sets for retail stock, increasing their popularity. This remarkable series of tapestries of The Story of the Emperor is generally acknowledged as being one of the first European expressions of chinoiserie and was a huge influence on the change of taste and cross-cultural exchange between the East and the West.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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