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Lot Essay
COMPARABLE TAPESTRIES
An identical scene is described by H.C. Marillier to be at Turvey Abbey in Bedfordshire, although the tapestry appears to be framed by a simple chain pattern border, which may be identical to the inner border of this tapesty (English Tapestries of the Eighteenth Century, London, 1930, p. 106), while another, slightly more narrow panel with very similar border at Schloss Herblingen, Schaffhausen, sold Christie's house sale, 10 - 13 September 1998, lot 581. Another tapestry, also unsigned, from the same series and depicting a scene outside an inn has identical borders and may thus be from the same set. In 1928 it was part of a pair of tapestries, the other depicting a hay-field, and was with Mallett of Bath (Marillier, op. cit., pp. 106 - 107, pl. 39b). Marillier suggests that these tapestries may all originate from the 'Hatton Garden' workshop of Francis and Thomas Poyntz.
HATTON GARDEN
When the Mortlake workshop lost its Royal grant in 1667 the dominant position this company held in England among tapestry weavers was gradually lost. While some of the weavers of Mortlake separated from Mortlake completely and established their own workshops in London, others remained at Mortlake and also ran their own ateliers on the side. One such atelier may have been the Great Wardrobe, which was created to maintain and restore Royal tapestries, and which was established at Hatton Garden in 1679. In a note of 13 March 1685-6 it is implied that Francis Poyntz's workshop was the Great Wardrobe, but that the management may have been on a contractual basis. Upon his death in 1685, the Great Wardrobe was moved to Great Queen Street in Soho, but his son Thomas Poyntz continued the workshop at Hatton Garden until the early 18th century. The style of the borders of this tapestry suggests, however, a late 18th century date for its weaving.
(D. Heinz, Europäische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, pp. 184 - 185)
An identical scene is described by H.C. Marillier to be at Turvey Abbey in Bedfordshire, although the tapestry appears to be framed by a simple chain pattern border, which may be identical to the inner border of this tapesty (English Tapestries of the Eighteenth Century, London, 1930, p. 106), while another, slightly more narrow panel with very similar border at Schloss Herblingen, Schaffhausen, sold Christie's house sale, 10 - 13 September 1998, lot 581. Another tapestry, also unsigned, from the same series and depicting a scene outside an inn has identical borders and may thus be from the same set. In 1928 it was part of a pair of tapestries, the other depicting a hay-field, and was with Mallett of Bath (Marillier, op. cit., pp. 106 - 107, pl. 39b). Marillier suggests that these tapestries may all originate from the 'Hatton Garden' workshop of Francis and Thomas Poyntz.
HATTON GARDEN
When the Mortlake workshop lost its Royal grant in 1667 the dominant position this company held in England among tapestry weavers was gradually lost. While some of the weavers of Mortlake separated from Mortlake completely and established their own workshops in London, others remained at Mortlake and also ran their own ateliers on the side. One such atelier may have been the Great Wardrobe, which was created to maintain and restore Royal tapestries, and which was established at Hatton Garden in 1679. In a note of 13 March 1685-6 it is implied that Francis Poyntz's workshop was the Great Wardrobe, but that the management may have been on a contractual basis. Upon his death in 1685, the Great Wardrobe was moved to Great Queen Street in Soho, but his son Thomas Poyntz continued the workshop at Hatton Garden until the early 18th century. The style of the borders of this tapestry suggests, however, a late 18th century date for its weaving.
(D. Heinz, Europäische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, pp. 184 - 185)