Page 261 - Livre Beau Rivage Palace

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3

THE TAPESTRIES presumably contain pressed grapes and containers overflowing in a number of respects, but the pose of the allegorical figure is
identical. The piece in Lausanne must be a variant – a variant
with seasonal produce, one of which – a cup – is held out by a
OF BEAU-RIVAGE PALACE carelessly placed female figure towards a beautiful seated woman without the reference to the signs of the zodiac – produced by
on the second level, who clearly represents autumn. Crowned Van Schoor either for this workshop or for a different one. Marthe
with vines and holding a staff decorated with a vine branch, she is Crick-Kuntziger has also noted the existence of a second set of the
solemnly enthroned as a goddess, a companion at her feet holding seasons. A piece absolutely identical to the Lausanne tapestry (but
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bunches of grapes, while two others bring dishes overflowing without border) was sold in Paris on 17 June 1921, lot no. 84, with
with nature’s produce. A man, who may be Bacchus, stands behind three other tapestries.
her. To the right, an open valley recedes into the distance, with Various tapestries of the seasons belonging to one or other of
unsettled skies above it. these sets can be seen in public collections: Winter can be seen in
This tapestry, along with three others, formed an allegorical set Brussels in the Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire (Van den Hecke),
depicting the seasons. The models were taken from one of the three one Spring is in the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco, another is
Nicole de REYNIÈS
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most important painters working in the tapestry field in Flanders in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (Van den Hecke) and
VERDURE WITH SMALL FIGURES (fig. 1) to a minimum at the production stage. The main purpose of this sort in the late seventeenth century and the first three decades of the a third is in Munich (Bavarian collection). The Autumn and Winter
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This large landscape is particularly interesting for its size, its of tapestry was generally to bring a sense of space and air into the eighteenth century: Louis van Schoor (c.1650-1702). The attribution are in the Zagreb museum of decorative arts.
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skilful use of perspective and the small-scale genre scenes scattered large rooms of dark residences, to create a kind of window in the walls of these ‘suites’ (different groups following a single design) is based
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across the background. The foreground space is occupied by a row opening onto a scene of countryside and nature – a natural scene that on a contemporary reference. These models apparently dated DUTCH CONVERSATION/THE FLOWER SELLERS (fig. 3)
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of trees effectively forming a kind of curtain, with the background was not necessarily distant and exotic but on the contrary local and from the 1680s and may have been frequently combined with the This tapestry was part of a ‘tenture’ – a group or set of tap-
visible through two gaps in the row. The lower part of the foreground familiar. Moreover, in the seventeenth century, the dyers of Aubusson ‘elements’ given the combined name Seasons and Elements, which estries – which at the time was called Conversations or Paysans
is filled with beautiful plants – so accurately depicted that a botanist were not familiar with all the various methods of dyeing – the tapestry appears in a contemporary document by a merchant of Antwerp hollandais (Dutch Peasants) for reasons which are unknown. The
could identify them – on a riverbank. In the middle ground is an producers called in vain for a ‘teinturier au roi’ (royal dyer). named Naulaerts. The landscape was probably taken from another group of tapestries also included an Assemblée jouant de la mu-
undulating landscape inhabited by people and animals. In a country The verdure tapestries most similar to this one are those of painter as was standard practice at the time. sique (Group Playing Music), Le Retour de la chasse et la vente du
house, beneath a straw-covered canopy, men are drinking at tables, (Audenarde/Oudenaarde) in Flanders – a town which produced These elegant, rather slender women wear robes of a vaguely gibier (Return from the Hunt and Selling Game), and La Vente de fruits
while two travellers – merchants? – have come to a halt in the great numbers of them – and those of the workshops (all of them classical design and their hair is arranged diadem-style above the et légumes (Selling Fruit and Vegetables).
nearby countryside. A castle and a town can be seen in the distance, private) in the region then known as Auvergne or Les Marches, i.e. face: features which are typical of the painter Van Schoor’s style. It The tapestry was woven in (Oudenaarde/Audenarde) in the
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along with a bridge leading towards them. Aubusson, Felletin and the surrounding area. The border design should also be noted that the design bears a clear resemblance to a first half of the eighteenth century; this town belonged to Flanders
The model for most verdure tapestries is unknown. However with its very distinctive flowers matches those typical of this region. tapestry called L’Abondance (Abundance), which completed a set of at the time. We know through archives that the workshops of Van
it is probable that the many landscape engravings circulating in Unfortunately few of the tapestries bear a weaver’s mark and it is the Continents, by the same artist. Reggelbrugghe, Jean-Baptiste Brandt, Albert Goeman and then of
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Europe influenced the cartoon artists, who were able to combine difficult to identify the production of individual workshops. Here In this period tapestries could be woven without a border. Georges-Frans Boele and his widow were working on this set until
different sources and supplement them with new additions. the weaving is of good quality although not exceptionally fine. This border was produced separately and may have been added in 1763. The first tapestries may date from 1707.
Nature scenes had always enjoyed widespread popularity It should be noted that the landscapes woven in Paris, which are response to a customer’s request. It imitates the frame of a painting, Two groups of figures are shown arranged in a frieze on a
among the wealthy clientele who commissioned tapestries – many fewer in number, are finer and have very distinctive borders. a style that was common in the eighteenth century. road bordering a hillock covered with trees. Beyond the hill, in the
probate inventories reflect this craze, as does the significant number of A set of the seasons was woven in Brussels in the workshop distance at the centre of the composition is a park in the classical
surviving pieces. The other colours apart from green which were used THE SEASONS/AUTUMN (fig. 2) of Jean-François Van den Hecke. An Autumn attributed to this style, with a grand canal and fountain, and a castle visible in the
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to brighten these landscape scenes may have lost their brilliance or The scene is presented in a number of layers. The first is workshop is in the collections of New York’s Metropolitan Museum far distance. On one site a florist is cutting flowers in a pot and
even disappeared entirely, but these colours were in any case reduced made up of autumn fruits (squashes, etc.), sumptuous vases which of Art. It is richer than the one in Lausanne and differs from it a man is making up bouquets, while a third figure has attracted
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Verdure with Small Figures. The Seasons/Autumn. Dutch Conversation/The Flower Sellers.
Aubusson or Felletin. Late seventeenth/early eighteenth century. Flanders. Model by L. van Schoor, c.1680. Audenarde. First half of the eighteenth century.
280 x 365 cm (including border) 4.5 threads per cm. 315 x 436 cm, 7-8 warp threads per cm, wool and silk. 326 x 317 cm, 6 warp threads per cm.
Original border folded back. Antique border added and rewoven at the corners. Original border.

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