A charming Flemish tapestry after Philippe de Hondt probably 18th century 334cm x 238cm
£7,000 - £10,000
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Find your local specialistA charming Flemish tapestry after Philippe de Hondt
the main field depicting a scene from the novel Don Quixote, when Sancho departs for the Island of Barataria, the whole woven in rich wools and silks -the deep blues and reds particularly brilliant, the verdant Italianate garden fading into the middle distance, an elaborate fountain the the foreground, the figures in the immediate foreground clothed in rich period dress, with exquisitely detailed faces, the whole lacking border,
334cm x 238cm
Footnotes
The present lot is taken after the original example in the Frick Collection, New York. The 'Frick' tapestry was woven by the workshop of Peter van den Hecke (Flemish, 1680-1752) after Philippe de Hondt (Flemish, 1683-1741). Today's lot is certainly a comparable tapestry -woven in wool and silk, entitled "Sancho departs for the Island of Barataria." Aspects of the composition appear to follow the artist Charles Coypel's series of 28 paintings taken from scenes in Don Quixote, written by Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
In part two of Don Quixote, Sancho (Don Quixote's former servant) is promised governance of an island not knowing what the word means. He is subsequently tricked into believing he is the governor of a fictional insula called Barataria. It is thought that this was the author's way of satirising the lack of practical experience on the part of 'philosopher-doctors,' who were in positions of power and influence in the Spanish court.
