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Lot Essay
French Origin of the Series
This series, originally designed by Guy-Louis Vernansal (d. 1729), Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay (d. 1715) and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (d. 1699) for the Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory between 1685 and 1690 and known as L'Histoire du Roi de Chine, consisted of nine or possibly ten tapestries. It was designed to illustrate scenes of everyday life of a Chinese Emperor, probably meant to represent Kangxi, who reigned from 1661 to 1721, and his Empress. It was first woven under the directorship of Philippe Behagle (d. 1705), who in a memorandum indicates that the first set, woven with gold-thread, was vendu de M. d'Isrode A Monseigneur le duc de Maine.
The set's success was undoubtedly due to the increased interest in China at the end of the 17th Century. This enthusiasm probably rose out of Louis XIV's glamorous reception for the ambassadors of Siam in 1664 and the publication in the same year in the Mercure Galant of a long description of the travels of father Couplet to China. The series was finally abandoned at Beauvais in 1732, when the cartoons were so worn that they could no longer serve their purpose.
Weaver
Jean Barraband, from Aubusson, arrived in Berlin in 1699 and established his own workshop, which he ran in the Lustgarten until his death in 1709 when his son, Jean II Barraband, succeeded him. The Barraband atelier, although it occasionally received commissions or grants from the Elector, primarily relied on private clients. The workshop thus had to be innovative to insure that their tapestries would be economically viable, so they frequently took direct inspiration from successful designs from the Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory. The first recorded delivery of the Grossmogulenfolge by Jean II Barraband was in 1713. Because of the lack of documentation it is not entirely clear if the Barraband atelier had not woven the theme earlier. Only the Audienz is closely related to its Beauvais version, while the other tapestries of the series were extensively redesigned by the workshop (D. Heinz, Europäische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, p. 323).
Related Tapestries
A complete set of the Berlin Grossmogulenfolge, which had been commissioned by Prince Alexander von Dohna and supplied in 1713, was at Schloss Schlobitten in East Prussia before World War II. Five tapestries, owned by the Prince of Lichtenstein, were at Schloss Valtice, Feldsberg, Moravia, in 1935. A tapestry depicting The Emperor's Banquet from the Berlin set is illustrated in Apollo, October 1986, p. 21, while a Berlin version of the Audienz was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 26 November 1996, lot 220.
This series, originally designed by Guy-Louis Vernansal (d. 1729), Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay (d. 1715) and Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (d. 1699) for the Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory between 1685 and 1690 and known as L'Histoire du Roi de Chine, consisted of nine or possibly ten tapestries. It was designed to illustrate scenes of everyday life of a Chinese Emperor, probably meant to represent Kangxi, who reigned from 1661 to 1721, and his Empress. It was first woven under the directorship of Philippe Behagle (d. 1705), who in a memorandum indicates that the first set, woven with gold-thread, was vendu de M. d'Isrode A Monseigneur le duc de Maine.
The set's success was undoubtedly due to the increased interest in China at the end of the 17th Century. This enthusiasm probably rose out of Louis XIV's glamorous reception for the ambassadors of Siam in 1664 and the publication in the same year in the Mercure Galant of a long description of the travels of father Couplet to China. The series was finally abandoned at Beauvais in 1732, when the cartoons were so worn that they could no longer serve their purpose.
Weaver
Jean Barraband, from Aubusson, arrived in Berlin in 1699 and established his own workshop, which he ran in the Lustgarten until his death in 1709 when his son, Jean II Barraband, succeeded him. The Barraband atelier, although it occasionally received commissions or grants from the Elector, primarily relied on private clients. The workshop thus had to be innovative to insure that their tapestries would be economically viable, so they frequently took direct inspiration from successful designs from the Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory. The first recorded delivery of the Grossmogulenfolge by Jean II Barraband was in 1713. Because of the lack of documentation it is not entirely clear if the Barraband atelier had not woven the theme earlier. Only the Audienz is closely related to its Beauvais version, while the other tapestries of the series were extensively redesigned by the workshop (D. Heinz, Europäische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, p. 323).
Related Tapestries
A complete set of the Berlin Grossmogulenfolge, which had been commissioned by Prince Alexander von Dohna and supplied in 1713, was at Schloss Schlobitten in East Prussia before World War II. Five tapestries, owned by the Prince of Lichtenstein, were at Schloss Valtice, Feldsberg, Moravia, in 1935. A tapestry depicting The Emperor's Banquet from the Berlin set is illustrated in Apollo, October 1986, p. 21, while a Berlin version of the Audienz was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 26 November 1996, lot 220.