GOUDA OR SCHOONHOVEN, CIRCA 1648 - 1662, AFTER DESIGNS ATTRIBUTED TO SALOMON DE BRAIJ, BY PIETER DE CRACHT

The earliest mention of this series is a set of eight that were sold to the Elector of Brandenburg by Pieter de Cracht (d. 1662) in 1648. Cracht acted both as a merchant and a weaver in Amsterdam, Schoonhoven and Gouda, but mentions specifically that it was his workshop who manufactured this series. Two further contracts with the Swedish court in 1649 and 1650 probably refer to another set that was supplied to Stockholm and it may be possible that a third set was sent to Gustav Wrangel in 1649. A fourth set known is that supplied to Werner Altgraf Salm and Maria Limburg, which bears the crowned monogram 'WM'.

The only known larger group to survive today are at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, although the five panels exclude the offered lot. It is interesting to note that the records show that the Stockholm set was on average 371 cm. high, while the Brandenburg set was 359 cm. high, which corresponds to the offered lot. However, the identification through height alone is not sufficient to match the offered lot with the Brandenburg set, but it is a tantalizing possibility.

Various design elements link the origin of the tapestries to other tapestries that can firmly be attributed to Salomon de Braij (1597 - 1664). De Braij was a true Renaissance man and was also an architect, published poet, urban planner and designer of silverware.

(E. Hartkamp-Jonxis and H. Smit, European Tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2004, cat. 62, pp. 241 - 250).