A Classical tapestry, from the Story of Antony and Cleopatra, after Karel van Mander II, Northern Netherlands (possibly Gouda or Schoonhoven, workshop of Nauwincx or de Cracht), second quarter 17th century

woven within an architectural frame flanked by golden Solomonic columns on corner plinths and a polychrome gold and blue frame border centred by a blue cabochon, the top border with a floral and fruiting swag held by small putti and centred by a Royal Swedish coronet with crossed sceptres, with a dark blue outer selvedge, with the BB mark lower right corner 

Colours are much more vibrant and bright, than appear in the photograph, and are balanced and very attractive. It is far more defined in appearance and clearer in reality, than is visible in the photograph. For colour contrast for example tonally, the outer selvedge is a navy blue and not as dark as in the photograph. This tapestry is lined. There are small areas of repair in scattered areas within the main composition and border, and some minor areas of weakness. For example there are some areas of scattered repairs, in the centre of the composition, to the head of the figure leaning out of his boat, there is a repaired patch to his head (visible as a light coloured area) and there are some repairs to the sleeve of another figure to the top left of him (in the centre of the composition) and similar coloured repairs within left sleeve of Antony. For another example there is a small light coloured area of repair in the blue sky, visible in the photograph just below the centre of the border to the right, and there is some repair in a strip of complimentary colours in an area on the horizon just right of the base of the building in the centre. There are some weaknesses and small repairs to areas of the light highlights, commensurate with colour of dye and age, for example to the building in the centre of the distance, and within the clouds in the sky right of top centre there is a the sky there is a small horizontal split (visible in the photograph), and to the hair and light clothing of Cleopatra. Small repairs as highlights to features of Cleopatra, to add definition to her pale face. There is some oxidisation to areas of the dark brown, which have repairs in a different coloured brown, for example to the right of the oar of the boat in the lower right corner, up the prow of the boat, and to the platform on which Cleopatra and Antony are standing, where different colour repair is seen for example between Antony's feet, also to the brown head of hair of a figure in the centre of the right hand side, near the scallop shell of a boat. Overall condition is very good. This is a stunning tapestry, with beautiful drawing, colours and of balanced composition and with a dynamic subject. More photographs are available from the department.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Flemish weavers and artists immigrated North to the Netherlands due to political and economical reasons in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Dutch cities encouraged workshops to develop. Karel van Mander II (1579-1623), son of Karel van Mander the elder (1548-1606), set up on his own in Delft in 1615, having worked for Spierincx, and had many international clients, including Christian IV, King of Denmark. The Story of Antony and Cleopatra in particular was popular in Netherlandish tapestries, and was woven by Karl van Mander II,  François Spierincx, Jacques Nauwincx and Pieter de Cracht from 1610 until the 1650's. They were in the Flemish Baroque tradition. Nine different episodes are known in various weavings, and with six different borders. Archives reveal that Van Mander II worked on designs for a Cleopatra set in 1621, but due to his early death in 1623, few were finished and only one of The Banquet of Cleopatra, and his cartoons passed into Spierincx's hands. In 1631 the firm of Nauwincx in Schoonhoven supplied the Amsterdam merchant Jan van Os with a set of eight, and three were based on the van Mander patterns. Only one of the tapestries was marked with letters BB and a shield, 'The Banquet of Cleopatra', Gouda or Schoonhoven (Private Collection), and although the border included the coronet it did not include the swags of columns. For an illustration of this marked tapestry, and comprehensive discussion of the Greek and Roman series woven in the Northern Netherlands and the use of BB by the Dutch workshops and their own workshop marks, see in Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis and Hillie Smith, European Tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2004, pp.175-180, fig.59. (illustrated from a photograph in the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles).

Records show that a set with the solomonic column borders were dispatched to the Swedish court in the late 1640's. The `solomonic' column is based on those designed by Peter Paul Rubens in his Apotheos de l'Eucharistie 1625-1628), and which was applied to a set of Eucharist tapestries in the workshop of Frans van den Hecke, in the second half of the 17th century. The motif was used and interpreted from that point on in Antwerp by Wauters, in Oudenaarde and in Holland (Delft, Gouda and Schoonoven) by de Maximiliaen van der Gucht, and Pieter de Cracht.

Three tapestries from this series in a very similar border are found in the Château Velke Losiny (Moravia), including a weaving of this present subject, ‘Meeting of Marc Antony and Cleopatra’ (approx. 400 by 540cm) see Jamila Blazkova, Barokní Tapiserie Ze Sbírek Csr, 1974, No.4.

For a similar series from the Story of Antony and Cleopatra, see the Catàlogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, Vol. II, Siglo XVII, Serie 54, pp.104-109, for tapestries with similar borders, including the coronet, attributed to designs after Karel van Mander II. Others from this series are recorded in the former Austrian Imperial Collection, Burgos, Vienna, and in the Herron Museum of Art, Indianapolis.

For auction comparables from this series, including a weaving with the identical border type, of, see Sotheby’s, Monaco, 24th June 1985, lot 973, ‘Marc Antony receiving tribute from the King of the Orient’, (from the collection of Theo de Wit), and another weaving of the same subject matter in a different border type, Sotheby’s, London, 12th March 1965, as lot 33, and bearing the B*B mark in the lower selvedge. For  a weaving of the ‘Reconciliation of Marc Antony and Octavius’, with a similar border including the coronet, see Sotheby’s, London, 1^st November 2005, lot 135.