‘The Woodcutters’, A Flemish ‘Teniers’ pastoral tapestry, Brussels, early 18th century, after David II Teniers, Brussels, Urbanus and Daniel III Leyniers workshop, after cartoons by Jan van Orley and Augustin Coppens
Lot Closed
November 12, 01:25 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 GBP
We may charge or debit your saved payment method subject to the terms set out in our Conditions of Business for Buyers.
Read more.Lot Details
Description
Woven in polychrome wool and silk, depicting the woodcutter splitting logs and his wife carrying a pile of splints in her arms, with an onlooking smoking male figure and in the distance a walking figure and resting figures around a centrally placed tree outside a large thatched building, a lady standing in the doorway of another small thatched house, with fields in the distance, within an associated later four-sided narrow inner border, with central stem and scrolling acanthus leaves, with later eau-de-nil outer selvedges, lacking an original wider outer border
Approximately 298cm high, 211cm wide; 9ft. 7in., 6ft. 9in.
Generally known as the ‘Teniers’ Tapestries, the extensive series were inspired by the painting of David II Teniers (1610-1690) and depict everyday scenes of country life and commercial activities. Although inspired by Teniers as a subject, the tapestries compositions relate directly to the paintings, except for that of the peasant festivals (The Kermesse). The tapestry interpretations of the subject matter were immensely popular commissions from the late 17th century through to the middle of the 18th century. They were woven by all the leading Brussels workshops, and then to with lesser distinction in design and quality, by other tapestry centres, such as Lille, Oudenaarde, Beauvais, Madrid and London. The original designs were reproduced and altered and other subjects were added over time.
The original set from the important Brussels workshop of the weavers, Jasper van der Borght (d.1742) and Jerome le Clerc (d.1742), included the subjects of The Kermesse, The Fish Quay, The Game of Nine-Pins, The Gypsy Fortune Teller, Return from the Harvest, Milking Scene, Winter Scene (Skating and Pig-killing), Sportsmen Resting and Summer (pastoral scene). Their clients were German and Austrian princes and other European aristocrats. The successive Brussels workshop of Urbanus (1674-1747) and his son Daniel III Leyniers (1705-1770), were involved with weaving the additional subjects of The Smithy (see a version of this subject in this auction) and The Woodcutters, offered here, which were added to the third series of cartoons attributed to Jacob van Helmont (1683-1726), and Jan Van Orley (1665-1735) and with the addition of sophisticated colour perspectives of the landscapes by Augustin Coppens (1668-1740).
RELATED LITERATURE
Campbell, Thomas P, Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendour, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yale University Press, New Haven, Flemish Production, Koenraad Brosens, pp.441-453.
Delmarcel, Guy, Flemish Tapestry, London, 1999, Brussels tapestries in the eighteenth century, pp.305-331 and for comprehensive discussion of the ‘Teniers’ tapestries, pp.352-361;
Marillier, H.C., Handbook to the Teniers Tapestries, London, 1932, p.33.
You May Also Like
