An unusual Flemish Religious Tapestry

probably 16th century

Footnotes

15 TP AN UNUSUAL FLEMISH RELIGIOUS TAPESTRY
probably 16th century
possibly depicting the coronation of King Solomon, with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoida, the striking border with bird filed top border, verdant landscapes to the flanking borders with various exotic animals including camels, lions and antelopes, the bottom border figures in contemporary 16th century dress in boats, each corner with representations of the elements of wind, earth, water, 320cm x 307cm £25,000 - 30,000 €30,000 - 36,000 $35,000 - 41,000

Provenance 1980s Sotheby's sale and then into a Private Collection, sold at the Viscontea Auction House, Milan, and then acquired by the present vendor.

Royal Border: This 'zoological' border is based on an example ordered by Philip II of Spain, for a specific set of tapestries -depicting the life of Noah. These borders, depicting the four elements and various exotic animals, recur again and again in individual pieces and sets from the 16th century. A first set of these 'Noah Tapestries,' had been lost in a shipwreck in 1559 and the second (manufactured in 1563 and after) was made with borders where the four elements were depicted. The weaver , Willem de Pannemaker (ca.1510-1581), raised objection to this border -saying it was too hard to weave. Unluckily for him -it was a border that would be used for another fifty years. King Philip had bought the original cartoons, these were fiercely guarded in Brussels , so much so that the officials responsible for them did not let Pannemaker use them again when Margaret of Parma asked for a new edition of the set herself! Stylistically, there is a painterly quality which, to quote Delmarcel: 'In the highly detailed devotional tapestries .... the weavers were attempting to approach the refinement of Flemish Panel painting.' Indeed, as can be seen in lots 15 and 16, the compositions and cartoons were heavily influenced by the Italian Renaissance as well as Flemish panel painting. This can be seen in the 'monumentality' of the figures, in the greater unity of action and in the introduction of models from classical art. With this stylistic development, there was also a shift, whereby an astonishing level of detail was now applied to the borders. It is worth noting that while the borders on these two tapestries (lots 15 and 16) are similar, border cartoons were often shared between workshops and copied so this is no guarantee that the tapestries are from the same workshop. Furthermore the inner and outer edges are slightly different so these probably don't come from a single set however they are of similar quality and design so could very likely be from the same weaving centre from a similar period. A famous 'pattern painter,' such as Van Orley would have had designs which would be used by numerous workshops -this is certainly the case with these two examples (lots 15 and 16) In terms of attribution, it is pertinent to note that the inner and outer edge patterns have sometimes been linked to Enghien, one of the weaving centres, although more recently using this kind of detail for attribution has been discredited by scholars (please see Guy Delarcel's catalogue 'Tapisseries d'Enghien' (1980).

Interestingly, the question of quality comparison has always been a source of contention even in the 16th century. The tapestry industry in Enghien flourished mainly in the second half of the 16th century. In a document from 1559, Nicolas Hellinck reacted to the accusation of trying to pass of Enghien pieces as Brussels manufacture. His argument was that pieces supplied from Enghien were just as good as pieces from Brussels.

Literature
Thomas P. CAmpbell, 'European Tapestry Production and Patronage, 1400–1600.' In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/ toah/hd/taps/hd_taps.htm (October 2002)
Guy Delmarcel, 'Flemish Tapestries: Five Centuries of Tradition,' Stichting De Wit Mechelen, Malines, Belgium, 1995

'Flemish Tapestry Weavers Abroad, Emigration and the Founding of Manufactories in Europe,' edited by Guy Delmarcel, Leuven University Press, 2002

Antonio Dominguez Orit, Concha Herrero Carretero, Jose A. Godoy, 'Resplendence of the Spanish Monarchy, Renaissance Tapestries and Armor from the patrimonio Nacional,' The Metropolitan Museum of Art, distributed by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1991

Barty Phillips, 'Tapestry,' Phaidon, London, 1994