Lot 31
  • 31

A Franco-Flemish Gothic Millefleur Tapestry Fragment circa 1510, perhaps Tournai

Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • height 22 1/2 in.; width 50 3/4 in.
  • (57cm; 128.9cm)
incorporating birds and a rabbit, with castles in the hilly distance, mounted on a linen covered board.

Catalogue Note

Millefleur tapestries, literally meaning "a thousand flowers", were largely woven between 1400 and 1550 and have always been considered a rare category of late medieval hangings.  The present highly decorative panel probably included fantastic beasts and further exotic flora. 

Compare similar flora and fauna in two weavings in the Musée du Cluny, La Tapisserie Médiévale, Paris, 2002, pp. 188 and 189.