A FLEMISH ARMORIAL TAPESTRY

LATE 16TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY SPANISH

Details

A FLEMISH ARMORIAL TAPESTRY
LATE 16TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY SPANISH
Woven in wools, depicting the arms of the Abbasid dynasty, combined with those of Seville, beneath a plumed helmet and within ribbon-tied scrolling acanthus, the stylised strapwork borders interspersed with cabochon cartouches and flower-filled vases, the corners repeating the shields, localised areas of reweaving
9 ft. 3 in. x 7 ft. 3 in. (283 cm. x 222 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 29 January 1999, lot 169.

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Lot Essay

The colour range and type of weave is essentially identical to numerous examples of tapestries woven with Spanish armorials that have very moorish-inspired borders. These examples are generally believed to have been woven in Spain (A. Gray Bennett, Five Centuries of Tapestry from The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 1992, cats. 36-37, pp. 138-141). Several weavers, many of them of Flemish origin, are recorded during the 17th Century in Spain, but it is very rare that armorial tapestries can be attributed to weavers. Armorial tapestries of this character are also believed to have been woven in Flanders to supply the foreign markets.

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