La Danse, A Late Louis XV Pastoral Tapestry, Aubusson third quarter 18th century

woven with figures seated outside at a tablecloth covered table eating bread and wine, a spaniel showing interest in the wine basket, with a dancing couple in the centre foreground, with the fiddler to one side and buildings beyond, with wooden gates from which emerges an apron clad cook holding a meat dish, with woodland in the background and distant buildings, all within a four-sided frame pattern border, top border detached

D. Chevalier, Tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin, Paris, 1988, p.148, illustrates a similar tapestry, attributed to the workshop of Pierre Dumonteil (1732-1787), which is of wider dimensions and including two dancing couples and more trees and foliage to the right hand side, the four-sided border includes scrolling acanthus leaves and floral sprays.  See The Property of Lord and Lady Hesketh, Easton Neston, Northamptonshire, Sotheby’s,  17^th-19^th May 2005, lot 72, for a very similar piece, in a frame pattern border.