Mid 19th Century Aubusson of the Studio-Office at L’Ermitage de Pompadour

Photo via Gourcuff Gradenigo – Arch Digest.

The studio-office at L’Ermitage de Pompadour is the Fontainebleau home of collector Charles de Noailles, French author and patron of the arts.

The office was decorated by Georges Geffroy (1903/05–1971), who is aptly described by Mitch Owens as “the most glamorous interior designer you’ve never heard of.”

Owens writes in an article in Arch Digest, “In his youth, the Paris-born Geffroy had worked in fashion, turning out hats for Paul Poiret and Redfern and designing clothes at Jean Patou. By the 1930s, though, he had begun decorating, turning out everything from suave fashion-house salons for Jean Piguet and Marcel Rochas to striking theater sets, such as a celebrated production of Sheridan’s School for Scandal, to glamorous, history-inflected rooms for celebrated socialites.”

The pictured studio gives us historical reference for the design and its uses as we present to you a matching mid 19th Century Aubusson carpet from our inventory.

Stock ID 19734
French Aubusson
10’0″ x 16’0″
circa 1840

The extremely fine woven mid-19th century French Aubusson rug was designed by Sallandrouze, who were amongst the wealthiest and most illustrious families in the carpet, rug and tapestry industry in Aubusson.

The piece is rich with silk and gilt-metal thread. An irregular lattice delineates lozenge shaped spaces and is centered on a particularly large and elaborate sub sectioned ivory motif. Each tall panel is filled with arabesques organized in a cruciform pattern. The narrow, off-white check-mark border discreetly frames the whole.

To view the rug on our website click here.

La Musique Tapestry by Francois Boucher

#20947

Tapestry  

10’ 4” x 17’ 8”

Wool and Silk pattern wefts on wool warp; warps/inch.

Beauvais, French Royal Tapestry Workshop under the direction of Nicolas Besnier and Jean – Baptiste Oudry (1734-1753), or A.C. Charron (1753-1780).

Designed by Francois Boucher

Subject: La Musique (Music) No. 9 of a set of 14 panels “Fetes Italiennes” or “Italian Scenes”, showing peasants and working-class folk with a few panels displaying members of the upper classes at play.  “Music” is one of these.

Boucher’s original drawings for Music (and other tapestries as well) are in The Stadelkunst Institute (Frankfort, Germany), and in a private collection in Paris.

This was Boucher’s first tapestry design commission for the Beauvais factory. His other work includes the “Nobles Pastorales” series in the 1750’s.

There is no complete set of all 14 tapestries extant and no complete set was ever woven for a single client.  The present panel lacks a mark in the outer plain blue border, now excised and replaced by a later restoration.  The mark would have given the place (Beauvais) and either Besnier’s or Charron’s name.

The entire set of the “Fetes Italiennes” comprises:

1. Le Operateur (The Charlatan)
2. La Bohemienne (The Gypsy Fortune Teller)
3. Les Pecheuses (The Fishing Girls)
4. Les Chasseurs (The Hunting Boys)
5. La Curiosite (Curiosity)
6. Les Filles aux Raisins (Girls Gathering Grapes)
7. La Danse (Dance)
8. La Collation (The Luncheon)
9. La Musique (Music)
10. Le Jardinier (The Gardener)
11. La Bergere
12. La Cabaretier (The Inn Keeper)
13. Le Perroquet (The Parrot)
14. Le Marchant d’Oeufs (The Eggseller)

Of the Fetes Italiennes, No. 9, Music was executed eleven times: 1745, 1746, 1750 4 times, 1751 twice, 1753 twice. 1754.

There was a partial set of six panels including Music sold in Paris, M.X…Collection, Galerie Georges Petit, 23.5.27 and all are illustrated in the catalogue.  The version of Music, lot 2 is shorter, 3.15 m. height, 2.90 m. long.

Only the right half of the whole composition appears, ending just to the left of the outstretched arm of the cellist in the center.  The trellised garden ledge and tower, along with two figures are not present.  Our panel is 8’ 8” longer than the 1927 example.  The double guilloche border is common to both versions and is one of the standard Beauvais borders used as late as 1774.  It also appears in the set in N.Y.

The sizes and subjects of the X … Collection pieces are as follows:

Dance             3.10 m x 4.75 m
Music             3.15 m x 2.90 m
Hunters         3.10 m x 2.75 m
Fishers           3.10 m x 2.0 m
Entrefenetre 3.05 m x 1.45 m
Entrefenetre  3.10 m x 1.40 m

Music is therefore, in its original form, the largest of the set.

The 1927 catalogue notes that there are longer replicas of Music with the additional personages to left.  This variation and reduction of scenes is not uncommon and because of the weaving process, here from right to left, is easy to accomplish.  The process proceeds horizontally, and the weavers can start or stop at any point in the cartoon.

Panel no. 9, Music, was woven in:

1745 for M. Gautier (nos. 7, 8, 9)
1746 for General Sale (nos. 7-10)
1750 for M. d’Aremberg (nos. 7-10)
1750 for Sueden (nos. 7, 9, 10)
1750 for M. Lalande (nos. 2, 8-10)
1750 for General Sale (nos. 1-4, 7-10)
1751 for M. Thibault (nos.1,3,4,7,9,10)
1751 for M. de Vermonoye (nos.7-9)
1753 for M. Duvocel (nos. 9-11)
1753 for Mme. Geoffrin (nos. 4,7-10)
1754 for M. Marchant (nos. 3,4,9,11)

Since our panel employs the full cartoon, it was likely one of the earlier editions, possibly as early as 1745 or 1746.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY has 9 pieces including one duplicate  slightly expanded to left.  Music is not included.  Standen is in error in stating that the Met’s set is complete.

The series is internally stylistically coherent and some of the same figures and scenic elements are reused.  For example, Music and The Gardener (no. 10) both employ the same trellised garden walls and the female in profile in The Gardener reappears almost exactly as the central girl close to the cellist in Music.  The putti riding dolphins in the fountain at the right of Music reappears in other examples of Boucher’s work.  The rustic leaning on the ledge is of the same laborer social class as The Gardener in no. 10.  The dimensions of “Music” are the greatest for any of the series and although it is unknown how many of the eleven editions of this design were produced in the fully extended large format, it was clearly a special creation.  No armorial device was ever present.  Sets were often split and recombined, and it is not possible to trace all the editions on individual panels.

Condition:

There has been selective color fading, but the reds have held up very well.  The condition is quite good and splitting is minor.  The silk has been replaced.  The borders have been shaved on the edges with the loss of any marks in the plain dark slip.  The plain strip has been replaced at the ends.

References:

1. Jules Badin, Le Manufacture de Tapisseriede Beauvais, Paris, 1909. The full chronology of all series is given, and it is still the essential primary source work.

2. Edith Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 2 Vols. Italian Village Scenes (Fetes Italiennes), No. 78 pp 507-533.

3. Trois Siecles de Tapisserie de Beauvais, Beauvais, 1964.

Verdure Landscape Tapestry with Birds

#20258

Tapestry Panel

Origin: Aubusson, France

Size: 10’9” x 13’8”

Circa: 1700

Material & Structure: Wool warp, 18 warps per inch; wool and silk pattern wefts, Z-2; woven sideways.

This extremely attractive verdure tapestry panel has a densely forested summer landscape in shades of blue and green occupying the right half.  Sunlight dapples the foliage.  A large and realistically rendered hawk dominates this part of the scene and is perched on a branch at the extreme right. On a nearby branch is a long-tailed parrot and there are several songbirds among the leaves.  At the bottom center is a pair of ring-necked birds, perhaps intended to be pheasants, but lacking their long, characteristic tails.  The tree foliage is schematically drawn, with simple rounded leaves on a variety of trunks.  The foreground flowers are more recognizable, however there are asters between the pheasants(?) and carnations in the far lower left corner.

The center is dominated by a classical ruined archway with engaged Corinthian columns.  The ruined archway is a trope taken from antique Roman buildings, triumphal arches in particular, and appears frequently in paintings by Poussin and his Roman followers. It obliquely refers to the antiquity and continuity of Roman civilization: while ruined, it still survives and dominates.  Framed by the arch is a rustic building, the outlier of the village, complete with a church, further to the left.

A large tree with blasted branches firmly closes the pastoral scene at the left. There are no people or human activities visible.  The general style is wholly consistent with the other Aubusson verdures of the period. Aubusson made a specialty of these panels, in a wide range of sizes, in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. An attribution to that center, in south central France, is therefore, wholly tenable. The colors are well preserved, especially the wide variety of blues and greens.

There are some minor repairs, but they do not affect the design. The present narrow dark blue slip perfectly frames the whole, replacing the original frame.

To view this tapestry on our website, click here.

Needlepoint Carpet with Roman Catholic Design

#20230

Needlepoint  Square Carpet

France

17’6” by 19’6”

circa 1870

Cotton foundation, wool needlepoint embroidery

This mosaic floor pattern wool needlepoint carpet was clearly  a special commission for a high-level Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, bishop and then archbishop / cardinal as indicated by the hats with tassels in the corners.  Each of these corners surmount a shield of arms, one of which displays the cross, another with a wreath bearing the inscription ‘pax’ or ‘peace’, and the other two more distinctly armorial, probably indicating the cleric’s family name.  The more tassels, the higher level the churchman.  Monsignors have the fewest tassels, archbishops at the cardinal level the most.  The archbishop/cardinal’s arms show a double-armed Cross of Lorraine surmounting a shield with a bend.  Another armorial shield shows a bend with a small lion beneath, and at the top an azure band with star and crescent ornamentation.  The Lorraine Cross may (or may not) indicate service in the capital city of Nancy.  Regardless, the original patron should, with further research, be identifiable. The shields indicate a patron of noble birth, as was the usual practice in the Catholic Church in France and Italy in the 19^th century. It was probably woven for a large reception room in the archiepiscopal palace of an important French city.

The pattern is a four-column row alternation of broad slate lozenges and narrow red dotted lozenges – the former with small, flowing detached leaf patterns.  The enclosed motives are either acanthus fringed circles with leafy crossed petals within smaller circles, or small diamonds with slender marigold leaf extensions.  There are small heart-shaped ivy leaf extenders at four points of the circles.  The field corners are beveled to accommodate the hats and shields.  The deep oxblood border shows an alternation of heart-shaped acanthus volutes, some with dark brown filling, some border-toned, with different cordiform motives with dot décor and lily filling.  The whole look is very 19^th century and there is only the very slightest Arts and Crafts (or the French equivalent) influence in the border.  The other secondary hues include straw, sand, green, red, and brown. The drawing is flat and two-dimensional except for the corner hats.

Attribution to a known manufacturer is impossible at present, but it may have been woven by any of the several firms active in Tournai at the time.

To view this rug on our website, click here.

An Ode to Irish Weaving

Though Saint Patrick’s Day has come and gone, it seemed appropriate to do a small feature of Donegal Arts and Crafts carpets. 

Although carpet weaving in Donegal is an ancient tradition, the company Donegal Carpets was founded in 1898 by Scottish textile manufacturer Alexander Morton.  Over a period of time, Morton opened a total of 4 factories in County Donegal, putting to practice the techniques of the local people who had been working with wool for generations.

From the 1890s through the 1920s, Ireland experienced a cultural renaissance fueled by a desire to fashion distinctively Irish creations of excellent quality. This movement intertwined current social and political concerns, as notions of the past melded with visions for a better future.

Characteristics commonly associated with Donegal carpets are the use of bright colors, and large scale design elements.

To view our collection of antique Donegal Arts & Crafts carpets on our website click here.

Graphic English Art Deco Carpet

#18992

English Art Deco Carpet

Possibly Designed by Marion Dorn

8’8” x 11’9” (2.64m by 3.58m)

Circa 1930’s

This carpet bears the partially illegible label of the Anglo … Carpet Company.  On an all wool foundation, with double wefts, it is coarsely symmetrically knotted in three-ply wool with a pile about ½ inch deep.  As is the case with the overwhelming majority of English 30’s Art Deco carpets, there is no border. The ivory ground displays diagonals with giant red spots and black/ivory scale patterns. The pattern is geometric, abstract and hard-edged, with no hint of floral or other realistic elements. However, the large dots have a mobility and seem to drift across the carpet.  There is nothing static about the layout, rather a strong sense of diagonal motion.

Marion Dorn (1899-1964), an American by birth, was active in Britain between the wars and worked with, among others, the Wilton Royal Carpet Factory in the late 1920’s.  She was not known to have collaborated with the Anglo … Carpet Company, however, hence the Dorn attribution is only speculative. The carpet is certainly in her style and no other English designer of the period was so strongly graphic. The strong abstract pattern is broadly similar to, but more mobile than, the black and white carpets she designed for Claridge’s Hotel c. 1935.  If the carpet is from another (now unknown) artist, it is certainly of high decorative quality.

The condition is excellent, and all finishes are intact. There are no repairs and it is completely original.

To view this rug on our website, click here.

Tapestry with Mythological Mélange

Tapestry No. 18445

Title: Mythological scene

Size: 10’6” x 15’6”

Period: Circa 1600

Origin: Brussels? No mark

Workshop: Unknown

Structure:

              Warp: wool, z-2-s, 13/in.

              Weft: wool, z-2, average 56/in.

Iconography: Pastiche of mythological elements.

Foreground figures:

1. At left Odysseus (Ulysses) shooting an arrow through a ring target. Taken from the episode from the Odyssey where the suitors of Penelope (see below) try to bend Odysseus’ bow (only he can do it); he shoots an arrow through a target of axes in sequence in the megaron (big room in the palace). Odysseus is often shown bearded, as is this figure.

2. At right, Penelope (Odysseus’ wife) who has been awaiting his return for years. She has been weaving a tapestry, promising to select a suitor from the crowd of potential mates when she finishes weaving. But she unravels it at night, so she hopes Odysseus can return.

3. The dog in the foreground is a well known symbol of fidelity, Penelope’s fidelity for Odysseus.

All the other characters are taken from other mythological sources.

So we have:

4. Hera (Juno) The elaborately dressed woman to Penelope’s left. Her symbol the peacock appears in the foreground.

At the table are:

5. Zeus (Jupiter), crowned, the king of the gods of Olympus being served by:

6.  Ganymede, the divine cupbearer;

7. Mars, at far left with sword, shield and helmet;

8. Possibly Hermes (Mercury), the divine messenger seated to the right of Jupiter with sword.

The other figures in exotic dress (Turbans; etc) are basically fillers in the composition.

The lute playing musician is at several removes taken from a 16^th century Italian print.

Tapestries were usually made in sets and this, therefore ought to be part of larger ensemble. But what? A story of Odysseus? Examples of Fidelity? A search of the literature, admittedly not complete, does not turn up any other example en suite – sharing a similar border, for example, and style of drawing.

The only other tale from classical mythology involving a woman weaving, is that of Arachne who Athena (Minerva) turned into a spider for her presumption to weave as well as the goddess. But that has only a group of woman as onlookers, not a mixed crowd of gods. And there are no tapestries of that subject matter known.

There is another Penelope panel, in Boston, depicting her alone, at her loom. French or Flemish, circa 1480. It is much smaller (5’1” x 3’4”) and part of a wholly distinct series depicting Virtuous women. There is, of course, no stylistic connection.

The border seems to retain elements of Mannerist origin: winged heads, strap-work fragments, shells, baldachins, as well as later acanthine rinceaux. This lacks the later elaborate, realistic three dimension al rendition of fruits & flauers of the 17^th century.

The workshop is probably not identifiable (lacking another example in the series with weaver’s signature or mark), although the border is somewhat distinctive. The rather schematic depiction of foliage implies a workshop outside of Brussels. The provincial character is also indicated by the non-symmetry of the long borders.  Also, the design center is to the left of the physical center, which would not have been acceptable in a more accomplished shop with higher quality control.

The pasticchio character of the scene also argues for a less sophisticated operation. Higher quality pieces are quite ichnographically exact and there is usually no confusion as to the personages, events, etc. The quality is decorative, perhaps made for speculative sale rather than for a patron’s special order with exacting requirements. The buyer wanted a colorful mythological effect without troubling himself with the exact meaning of it all.     

To view this tapestry on our website, click here.

Special Order Louis XVI Aubusson

#18422

Aubusson, France.

Tapestry weave carpet.

16′ 0″ × 21′ 9″

Louis XVI Period – 1780’s.

This carpet is in amazingly good condition with only minimal repairs which have blended in well with the original fabric. Unlike many pieces of that period and type, this is a relatively oblong carpet, whereas it is more likely to encounter square formats woven to fit the rooms of contemporary residences.

The field is a soft golden sage centered by a complex ivory quatrefoil medallion. The periphery of which is formed by acanthus arabesques and scrolls. Within is a circular floral wreath enclosed by four square open knots. At the center is a bead and reel circle enclosing a laurel wreath which in turn centers an 8-petal motif.

At the four cardinal points is an urn on a stand. The style is neoclassical: a shaded blue amphora with large angular handles in yellow. This could be construed as an ormolu mounted porcelain. At the top and bottom, there is a further elaboration of the stand: a tapestry woven rug with a multicolored fringe is partially visible covering a table.

Connecting the urns are colorful garlands of flowers in the same style as the central wreath. Just outside the garlands are baskets of fruits and flowers. The corners of the field are further emphasized by bold arabesques twisting and curving into the open field along the sides. There are additional multicolored swags connecting the troupe l’oeil tapestry stand covers to the corner arabesques. The whole effect is extremely vivid and strong, more masculine than the softer, less active pieces usually encountered from this period.

The border system is narrow and is a troupe l’oeil moulding with “X” style ribbon clasps around a ribbed band as was the case with all the best Aubusson work, however this piece was clearly a special order. The design is unique; and the quality of the dyes, materials, and execution is high. 

To view this rug on our website, click here.

Art Deco Aubusson by Jean Michel Frank

Rug #: 17065

Origin: France

Type: Aubusson – Art Deco

By Jean-Michel Frank (1893-1941)

Size: 16’6” X 32’6”

Circa: 1930s

Modernist designer Jean-Michel Frank was able to combine his love of beautiful materials with his preference for strict geometric forms.  Due to his strict adherence to geometrical forms and simple unobtrusive design elements, many times he was required to design and create many of the items needed in his projects. In many of these undertakings not only would he have had to design the interiors, but also the other objects of the room such as furniture, wall fabrics, light fixtures, and hardware; as well as the carpets and other means of floor covering.

The present piece is amongst the few Aubussons that show the clear influence of Jean-Michel Frank’s design. The power of clear and simple geometrical patterns combined with the grand scale of the rug is what makes it uniquely a Jean-Michel Frank Signature piece. The design of the carpet makes it very easily fit in to many varied but related styles of decorating such as English Arts & Crafts (William Morris), American Prairie style (Frank Lloyd Wright), and French Art Deco (Jean-Michel Frank).

With its wide linear/cubical border design and vast open expanses of the field, unbroken by any design element except for gradually varying tones of the same shade of color, it has an understated elegance that can only be created by the master designer Jean-Michel Frank.

To view this rug on our website, click here.

Abstract English Tufted Carpet

#20-3022

English Tufted Carpet

By Ron Nixon

9’3” x 11’9”

C. 1970

Wool Pile on a cotton canvas ground, jute lining.  Excellent condition.

This borderless English carpet is stamped on the jute lining “Designed and made by Ron Nixon”.  The abstract, Op Art pattern is a geometric array of semi-circles, parallelograms, fat S-shapes, triangles, and various sinuous sections.  The sections are in a wide range of colors, including royal blue, straw, rust, black, various greens, navy, sand and a few shaded, bitonal areas. Not only do the sections vary in tone, but the wool is different in each as well. The differences are quite easily visible, and the feel sets each apart from the others. Each color must have been dyed separately with a specific wool batch. However, the pile is all at the same level. The tufting process was carried out through a mechanical process on a cotton ground canvas, operated by skilled operatives following a cartoon.  Needles were used to insert the variously colored wool yarns. A room size carpet could be completed in a few days via the tufting method, which is much faster than hand knotting. The totally geometric style is consistent with the late 1960’s or early 1970’s.

This one of a kind piece was commissioned by National Westminster Bank in Glasgow, Scotland for the offices of the Area Managing Director.

The designer, Ron Nixon worked with another prominent British textile artist in the 1970’s, Barbara Brown, and was also a well-known painter working in a hard-edged abstract style in primary colors. The carpet is very Mod in design, in keeping with the stylistic trends of the period. The restraint of Art Deco has been replaced by a riot of colors. Nixon’s carpet work is relatively rare outside of the U.K. and we are pleased to present such a striking example with a solid provenance.

View this rug on our website by clicking here.