A Flemish Verdure Landscape Tapestry, possibly Lille first half 18th century

the landscape woven with large flowering and foliate foreground plants and tree stump, with a path winding through the woodland, flanked by trees, each side with an exotic parrot perched within the foliage, with a landscape extending into the background with a château and grounds, and buildings on the hills above, all within an elaborate floral, fruiting and foliate border entwined around and supported by a sculptural stem and ledge support, with blue ribbon tied bows, incorporationg small birds in each top corner and the centre of each side border, each lower corner with a scallop-shell and blue acanthus leaves, all on a mustard coloured ground, with a narrow banded yellow or brown inner border, and a four-sided yellow/brown outer selvedge

Tapestry has linen lining. There is no Velcro. There are holes in the linen at intervals across the top, where previously attached small hooks/studs perhaps, have now been removed. It is recommended that Velcro should be attached for hanging in the future. Tapestry was hanging at reduced height in the past, as there is a linen sleeve for a rod, at the back of the lining, level with the tops of the trees of the main tapestry, which has red stitching, visible at the front of the tapestry, in two horizontal parallel lines across the width of the tapestry, see the sky. Visible in foliage on close inspection. Some splits and repairs generally. Some have joining stitches, visible others lacking. Some splits are clearly due to colour changes, and therefore part of weaving process, and can be repaired. See for example the building, which also has a small patched area. Also some splits in sky. Blue still visible in areas of sky. Some discolouration to some of flowers in borders, for example no pinks or purples, now all cream. Striking and highly decorative tapestry.
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I. De Meuter, Tapisseries d'Audenarde du XVI au XVIII Siècle, 1999, pp. 211-219, discusses and illustrates Oudenaarde Verdure or garden tapestries with birds and other animals. There are similarities in the compositions and the inclusion of exotic birds and in particular an Oudenaarde example illustrated on pg.211, dated 1735, Oudenaarde, within a stylised mustard coloured chain motif border, shows the brightly plummed birds within the foliate canopies.

For several similar pieces see Crick Kuntziger, Musée Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles Catalogue des Tapisseries, circa 1954, pp. 87-88, 104-110, pl.108-113, which are Oudenaarde pieces, and are within narrow stylised leaf and scroll motif borders. A particularly wide example illustrated in Crick Kuntziger, opcit. pl.109 - 105, with parrots within the trees, exotic flowering foreground plants and the inclusion of an elegant residence in the background, is also illustrated in Dora Heinz, Europäische Tapisseriekunst, Vienna, 1995, pp.240-241, pl. 95.