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Lot Essay
Decorative cushions, used to soften the hard benches, were popular luxury items in northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. These expensive bench cushions were frequently made for council members for their tenure and then to keep as an honorary souvenir from the middle of the 17th century. It is thus possible that this cushion cover was made for a council member of Voorne, which is a town in Southern Netherlands near Rotterdam.
There are only two major Dutch workshops recorded that were making tapestry cushion covers at the time: Francois Coppens (d. 1743) of Delft and Alexander Baert the Younger, who led a large enterprise in Amsterdam that was active between 1723 and 1759.
A further cushion cover from Voorne and inscribed 'GEN:DYCKAGIE VAN VOORNE' and dated 1710, with identical coat-of-arms but with rampant lion holding the shield, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 1967, vol 2, p. 69).
(C. Adelson, European Tapestry in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1994, pp. 377 - 382, cat. 23)
There are only two major Dutch workshops recorded that were making tapestry cushion covers at the time: Francois Coppens (d. 1743) of Delft and Alexander Baert the Younger, who led a large enterprise in Amsterdam that was active between 1723 and 1759.
A further cushion cover from Voorne and inscribed 'GEN:DYCKAGIE VAN VOORNE' and dated 1710, with identical coat-of-arms but with rampant lion holding the shield, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, 1967, vol 2, p. 69).
(C. Adelson, European Tapestry in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1994, pp. 377 - 382, cat. 23)