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Lot Essay
The fashion for 18th Century tapestry seat-furniture enjoyed a renaissance in the late 19th and early 20th Century, in large part due to the influence of the Rothschild family and, subsequently, the art dealer Joseph Duveen. New, sumptuously carved frames were made in the late 19th Century to support 18th Century tapestry covers, as with the related suite sold from the Collection of the Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild, Christie's London, 8 July 1999, 200 (£419,500).
The subjects depicted on the tapestry covers of this suite are based on the fables of Jean La Fontaine (1621-1695), which were in turn based on Aesop's and Oriental fables. First published in 1668, La Fontaine's fables enjoyed enduring popularity and a second extended version was published in 1678-79, with a third addition in 1792-94.
The Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory first wove La Fontaine's fables in 1736 after a design by Jean Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), who had been employed by the manufactory since 1726 and took over its directorship in 1734. Contractually he was bound to deliver six cartoons for tapestries every three years, but Oudry's style dominated Beauvais so strongly during this period that the workshop ceased all reweavings of older subjects, and Voltaire even called the workshop the kingdom of Oudry. The fables were such a successful tapestry design that the main series was copied no less than sixteen times by 1777, and since the subjects could easily be reduced in size, numerous weavings for chair covers were undertaken (J. Badin, La Manufacture de Tapisseries de Beauvais, Paris, 1909, p. 59 and D. Heinz, Europische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, pp. 266-268). The subject wa also taken up by Aubusson and other tapestry manufactories.
The subjects depicted on the tapestry covers of this suite are based on the fables of Jean La Fontaine (1621-1695), which were in turn based on Aesop's and Oriental fables. First published in 1668, La Fontaine's fables enjoyed enduring popularity and a second extended version was published in 1678-79, with a third addition in 1792-94.
The Royal Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory first wove La Fontaine's fables in 1736 after a design by Jean Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), who had been employed by the manufactory since 1726 and took over its directorship in 1734. Contractually he was bound to deliver six cartoons for tapestries every three years, but Oudry's style dominated Beauvais so strongly during this period that the workshop ceased all reweavings of older subjects, and Voltaire even called the workshop the kingdom of Oudry. The fables were such a successful tapestry design that the main series was copied no less than sixteen times by 1777, and since the subjects could easily be reduced in size, numerous weavings for chair covers were undertaken (J. Badin, La Manufacture de Tapisseries de Beauvais, Paris, 1909, p. 59 and D. Heinz, Europische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, pp. 266-268). The subject wa also taken up by Aubusson and other tapestry manufactories.