A Louis XIV silk embroidered table carpet, Paris, France

Steinitz, Paris

Biennale, Paris

Judith Thurman, "Chicago Symphony," Architectural Digest, November 2009, p. 135.

With areas of losses to silk embroidery throughout, most in field northeast of peacock. Stiching in borders mostly in tact with the most losses on the right side. Further losses due to oxidation. Sides now bound and reinforced on reverse on linen tape. Some minor later overstitching scattered throughout. Some minor scattered spot stains, not extensive. In otherwise sound overall condition. Finely worked, highly attractive piece. Good colors and detailed dynamic design.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The late sixteenth century saw the establishment of numerous textile ateliers throughout France with the efforts of Henri IV, who invited many foreign craftsmen to revive the French economy. Most of these workshops remained open following the king's death and kept producing fine quality weavings and textiles throughout the reign of his successor, Louis XIII.  However, the true golden age of French textile art began only in the second half of the seventeenth century with the emergence of some of the most important and illustrious French weaving centers such as Beauvais, Aubusson, Savonnerie and the Gobelins workshops. Weavers at Savonnerie, Aubusson and Beauvais executed outstanding carpets and tapestries after the cartoons of some of the most celebrated artists of the time. But whereas these craftsmen specialized almost exclusively in flat woven and pile weaving, those at the Gobelins and Versailles ateliers also executed delicate embroideries with great virtuosity. Besides professional embroiderers, orphan girls or young noble ladies also practiced embroidery, sometimes in organized settings. Such establishments were the Parisian convent of Saint-Joseph-de-la-Providence and the famous school of Saint-Cyr near Versailles, both of which were organized by women belonging to the closest circle of the Sun King: the Marquise de Montespan and Madame de Maintenon. These ladies were much interested in the education of young women and hired some of the most well-known professional embroiderers, such as Lhermot and De Reynes, to perfect the craft of their protégées. They also encouraged members of the royal court to patronize these establishments and purchase textiles produced by the girls. Embroideries, regardless whether they were manufactured at the professional workshops of the Gobelins or by the demoiselles de Saint-Cyr, were used in fashioning clothing articles, wall and bed hangings, furniture trimmings, on fire screens, altar fronts and, as the lot offered here, table covers. An excellent example of a needlework panel used as a bed hanging was sold Important French Furniture from the Collection of Dr. Alexandre Benchoufi, Sotheby's New York, November 9, 2006, lot 6.

The table cover offered here is embroidered in a trio of different techniques with the satin stitch in a herringbone pattern serving as the ground on which dark brown split stitch outlines the colorful design executed in Hungarian point stitch. The complex structure of this piece indicates that the cover is likely the product of a professional atelier rather than the ladies of Marquise de Montespan or Madame de Maintenon who generally produced less ambitious pieces executed in simpler cross or tent stitches in gros or petit point. The overall design of the piece with its interlacing foliate scrolls reflects the influence of some of the most sought-after ornemanistes, or pattern-designers, of the day such as Jean I. Berain, whose cartoons were dominated by an abundant use of rinceaux punctuated by whimsical animal or human figures and capricious architectural elements. However, what makes this lot particularly French in style is its retardatory character that is a general hallmark of French carpet and textile art in the third quarter of the seventeenth century. In this case, the particularly lush quality of the aforementioned rinceaux, coupled with the over scale rendering of the birds and animals, makes this lot reminiscent of weavings and embroideries of the early 1600s. A table cover with similar foliate scrolls and flower heads slightly later to this lot was sold Sotheby's London, October 31, 2007, lot 86. Another related piece is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, Volume II, Greenwich, 1966, pp. 508-509.

What renders this lot particularly interesting is the elegant peacock in the center of the composition. Since antiquity, the peacock has been associated with Juno and thus it is not surprising that at the court of Louis XIV, who was particularly fond of ancient mythology and his own association with numerous ancient gods, the goddess was the symbol of the queen and was reserved for her use in allegorical portrayals. Jean Nocret's famous canvas depicting the Sun King and his family as gods of ancient mythology shows Queen Marie-Thérèse as Juno with a peacock by her side. Interestingly, the painting dates from 1670, about the same time as the lot offered here. A peacock also appears perched over a bejeweled and blond-haired head of a lady on a royal embroidered wall hanging in the Metropolitan Museum. Here, the peacock could also symbolize the Queen of France not simply because of the similarities between Nocret's depiction of the queen and the face on the embroidery, but because the textile, which also shows the royal coat of arms, was intended to depict Louis XIV as spring. In spite of the depiction of the peacock as the central motif, together with its complex construction and superb quality of craftsmanship, it might be far fetched to suggest that the lot offered here was indeed commissioned for Queen Marie-Thérèse. Regardless of its original owner, this piece is an outstanding work of art that exhibits the exceptional abilities of French embroiderers during the golden age of textile arts in the late seventeenth century.