Lot 173
  • 173

France, Aubusson or Felletin

Estimate
7,000 - 10,000 GBP
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Description

  • 'Alexander', Historical Tapestry, from the series 'The Nine Worthies'
  • wool, woven
  • approximately 280 by 306cm., 9ft 2in by 10ft 1in.
woven with an equestrian figure and horse with elaborate saddle cover with a rampant lion motif, with standing figures in attendance, within a landscape setting with mille-fleurs foreground, the side borders with flowering foliate trails against a dark brown ground, and the top left of border with scroll with inscription in Old French.

Provenance

Delorme & Collin du Bocage, Paris, 23rd November 2007, lot 82

Condition

Overall measurements: 306cm across the top, 300cm across the bottom, 280cm along the left side, 275cm along the right side. Tapestry is in stable restored condition. With linen lining and attached with Velcro for hanging purposes. Later outer brown selvedges. There are areas of reweaving across the tapestry, for example to the top left side of the entablature and text in the top left corner, including the top line of script, and a vertical strip up the far inside edge of the right hand side and left hand side. In addition there are other areas, for example across the lower width, to hooves, flowers and background, boots and stockings. Outer edges of contrast around figures have been repaired (due to oxidisation of original dark threads) and there are terracotta coloured repairs in the brown areas. Repairs in the border and to areas of highlight. Despite repairs and reweaving. It is in stable and clean condition. Ready to hang. Decorative tapestry from evocative and rare series.
"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."

Catalogue Note

The narrative in the top left corner is in old French: “Emmy heurtz alermez tempeste, fiz de babillone conqueste, noble roy dayre ay priz occiz, orient occident ie conquiz, a la fin fuz empoisonné, XX et troiz centz anz ainz que dieu fus tre”; (Au milieu des coups, batailles, tempête, fis de Babylone conquête. Noble roi Darius ai pris, occis, Orient, Occident je conquis. A la fin, fus empoisonné, XX et trois cents ans avant Dieu n'en eût trois); (In the midst of blows, battles, storm /Babylon was conquered /noble King Darius took, killed /the East, the West, I conquered /in the end [he] was poisoned /230 years before God was born).

Traditionally the Nine Heroes are identified as Judas Maccabeus, David and Joshua from the Old Testament; Hector, Alexander and Julius Caesar from Antiquity; and King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey de Bouillon as the three Christian heroes. The earliest survival of a series devoted to The Nine Worthies is that in The Metropolitan Museum of Art which was woven in the Southern Netherlands in 1400 - 1410, but it follows a completely different scheme from the offered lot (Cavallo, A, Medieval Tapestries in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, Cat. 2, pp. 94 -124). It was in the late 16th century that the Marche workshops in the region of Aubusson and Felletin took up the theme depicting the heroes on horseback. A document of 1546 records that Jehan Chartier from Bourges commissioned a set from Léonard Deveau and Joseph Laurent, weavers in Felletin (D. P. Chevalier and P.-F. Bertrand, Les Tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin, Lausanne, 1988, pp.20-21).

For a comprehensive discussion of the tapestry series, see Jean Favier, Un rêve de chevalerie: les Neuf Preux, Château de Langeais, 2003, pp. 68-77, & p.72 for a similar composition (in reverse), Atelier de la Marche, 16th century, with the same border type, but the lower border a later rewoven replacement. The series of seven tapestries at Château de Langeais were probably made for the Château de Chauray between 1525 and 1540. For a tapestry from the series at auction, see Charlemagne, depicting the emperor Charlemagne on horseback, the horse trappings emblazoned with the imperial device of the double-headed eagle, and descriptive label above in old french (Carlemaine fut des noef preus empereur de romme), (296cm by 275cm), Christie’s, London, Bernard Blondeel & Armand Deroyan Tapestries and Carpets, 2 April 2003, lot 5. For a comparable example from this series of the Nine Heroes, also known as the Nine Worthies, in the same border, see Göbel, Heinrich, Wandteppiche, Part II, Vol.II, abb.261: Godfrey de Bouillon.