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Lot Essay
The two scenes in the present drawing are related to a set of eight tapestries of Les Amusements Champêtres woven by the Manufacture de Beauvais. The two games depicted in the drawing are represented in two tapestries (H.N. Opperman, op. cit., pp. 96-98, figs. 418-9). The rendering of Le pied de boeuf in the present drawing is close to that in the tapestry, though in the latter the figures are seated in an architectural setting. On the other hand, the composition of the Colin-maillard game in the background differs from the final work: the group is reversed and the man is chasing two girls and not three.
The set was begun in 1728 but the cartoons were only delivered between 1730 and 1732. Two of the four extant tapestries are dated 1730. The series further included Le cheval fondu, La bergère, Le joueur d'osselets, La balanceur, Le joueur de broche en cul and Le joueur de musette.
Two drawings for the Amusements Champêtres, dated 1728, are known, both variations of the game of La main chaude which was eventually not included in the set (P. Bjurström, French Drawings, Eighteenth Century, Stockholm, 1982, no. 1084, illustrated and fig. 1084 ref).
The set was begun in 1728 but the cartoons were only delivered between 1730 and 1732. Two of the four extant tapestries are dated 1730. The series further included Le cheval fondu, La bergère, Le joueur d'osselets, La balanceur, Le joueur de broche en cul and Le joueur de musette.
Two drawings for the Amusements Champêtres, dated 1728, are known, both variations of the game of La main chaude which was eventually not included in the set (P. Bjurström, French Drawings, Eighteenth Century, Stockholm, 1982, no. 1084, illustrated and fig. 1084 ref).