A Flemish Game Park Tapestry, Enghien late 16th century

woven with equestrian figures within a woodland setting, all within a four-sided border with allegorical figures in each corner, strapwork motifs, fruiting and floral groups and entre-lac inner and outer borders, woven with the town mark, and the weaver's mark

Colours are more vibrant, crisper and more defined. It is greener in appearance and not as dark. More attractive in reality. There is some even fading of colour overall commensurate with age. There are some minor splits in areas, which can be repaired. For example top right corner, horizontal split where main tapestry meets the inner border, and small splits in roof of house, and some within foliage. There are small areas of reweave, for example in left border section of the strapwork. Original outer blue selvedge, with sections of repair, visible as different colour. Original inner and outer narrow borders. It would benefit from a clean. It has old glazed linen lining with is loose in sections. It is recommended that the tapestry should be re-lined, and Velcro added across the top for hanging in the future. This tapestry is in good and stable condition. This tapestry is a good size, with balanced composition and colouring. There are charming details such as the buildings within the woodland. Very decorative tapestry, and bearing the town and weaver's mark.
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Tapestry weaving flourished in Enghien in the second half of the sixteenth century, having started in the 15^th century, with its good reputation resulting in royal commissions. Lead seals had been attached for identification from around 1513, and marks were woven in from 1535, an all weaving centres used a town mark after the Edict of 1544.  For Enghien the mark was a distinctive town shield with eight segments alternating in black and white, often placed between the letter E and N. Uniquely to Enghien, this mark can sometimes appear in the top selvedge.  

In the aftermath of the Spanish Fury in 1576, in which tapestries were stolen from the Antwerp Tapestry Makers Hall, a list of weaver's that had lost tapestries was recorded, and listed amongst the numerous Enghien weavers was Quinten Flaschoen. For Quentin Flascoen's weaver's mark, circa 1575, and discussion of Enghien tapestry manufacture see H. Göbel, Die Wandteppiche, 1923-1934, Part I, Vol.i, pp.519-525, pl.21. Both the town mark and weaver's mark and are present on this tapestry.

Tapestries with the exuberant verdure design with animals dated to the third quarter of the sixteenth century, have the characteristic narrow inner and outer entre-lac design of border. The slightly later Game Park tapestries, of similar design to the present tapestry panel, include buildings and gardens which were inspired by Jan Vredeman de Vries, whose influence is present in various artistic categories and infiltrated most northern European countries. For illustrated discussion of tapestry weaving in Enghien, see Guy Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestries, London, 1999, pp.168-176.

There are comparable tapestries with similar design elements of small figures, and buildings within woodland settings, combinations of birds and animals, and hillocky foregrounds, within similarly conceived borders including allegorical figures in all four-corners, and fruit groups. For reference to a particular set of three tapestries of comparable design and with very similar border type, which were woven by a contemporary Enghien weaver of Flaschoen, Philippe van der Cammen, with the town mark and weaver's mark, circa 1576, see Guy Delmarcel, Tapisseries Anciennes d'Enghien, Mons, 1980, cat.no.20-22. pp.50-53.  For an example of an Enghien tapestry, circa 1560-1600, with Enghien town mark and an unidentified `heart' mark, with an earlier design composition of a verdure field with animals, but sharing the same border type, with corner figures, canopies, strapwork, fruit and foliate groups, and narrow inner and outer entre-lac borders see Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis and Hillie Smith, European Tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2004, cat.no. 25., pp.88-89.

A game-park tapestry, with similar balance of animals, figures and landscape with central tree and exotic bird, and including a unicorn and rhinoceros in the foreground, and similar border type and inner entre-lac border, was sold from the Collection of Ritter Rudolph von Gutmann, Sotheby's, London, 11th December 1987, lot 175, and again at Sotheby's New York, 31st January 1997, lot 243.

For discussion of de Vries, and comprehensive discussion of the proliferation of prints and effects on art and architecture in the sixteenth century Northern Europe, especially those from the Netherlands, see Anthony, Wells-Cole, Art and Decoration in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1997, Chapter 5, The influences of Netherlandish prints I Ornament Prints, pp.43-94, Jan Vredeman de Vries, pp.58-59.