FRANCE, LATE 17TH CENTURY

This magnificent Louis XIV needlepoint carpet was interestingly exhibited in 1960 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and was at the time attributed to the young ladies of Saint-Cyr after a Savonnerie cartoon. The religious community of Saint Cyr in Noisy was patronized by the crown and produced a variety of embroideries and needlepoints. The drawing and quality of our needlepoint is in the same tradition as the ambitious and exquisite Louis XIV Savonnerie carpets commissioned for the Grande Galerie of the Palais du Louvre. This needlepoint displays similar coloration and motifs as the Savonnerie pile carpets including the vivid scrolling acanthus leaves, meticiously drawn flowers, and architectural cartouches containing floral arrangements . Most notable in our carpet, is a large sunflower, often used as a symbol of Louis XIV, the Sun King. Although the upper border of this carpet is rewoven and is possibly reduced in length, it is also equally possible that this carpet is in its original format. As seen in contemporary Savonnerie carpets, the aysmmetrical format may have conformed to an architectural space such as an alcove.