.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
PORTS DE MER SERIES
This tapestry depicting exotic and naturalistically rendered birds belongs to a series of cartoons designed by Adrien Campion and Joseph van den Kerchove who were inspired by the menagerie at Versailles. Unfortunately very little is known about the original commission of the series but it appears that one of the first sets was supplied to the Swedish Royal Collection through Carl Piper in 1695 (today at Björnstorp, Sweden). A further set bearing the arms of the Chevailier d'Allonne (d. 1707) is at château Merlemont, near Beavais, France. It is also interesting to note that the Garde Meuble purchased tapestries from Beauvais less frequently than from the Gobelins, however, this series feature among acquisitions made by Louis XIV for his château de Marly in 1696.
PHILIPPE BEHAGLE (d. 1705)
Philippe Behagle was a Flemish weaver from Oudenarde who had previously worked in Tournai. He was appointed director of Beauvais workshop in 1684 after Louis Hinard resigned as a result of financial difficulties. Edith A. Standen describes the manufactory under Behagle's leadership as 'prolific' ('The Tapestry Weaver and the King; Philippe Behagle and Louis XIV', Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol 33, 1998, p. 183.) during which 1300 tapestries were created. One of his first commercial successes was a series entitled Conquests of the King. On his death in 1705 the workshop was overseen by his wife and son until 1711.
NOËL-ANTOINE DE MÉROU (d. 1734)
Noël-Antoine de Mérou took over direction of the Beauvais workshop between 1722-1726 and oversaw showrooms in Paris, Leipzig and Ratisbon, Germany until his death in 1734.
A tapestry depicting this same scene but lacking the border is in the Kunstindustrimuseet (Danish Museum of Decorative Art), Copenhagen and is illustrated in J. Coural and C. Gastinel-Coural, Beauvais, 1992, p. 32, fig. 16. A further example was sold at Sotheby's Monaco, 21-22 May 1978, lot 102 and acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum, California.
This tapestry depicting exotic and naturalistically rendered birds belongs to a series of cartoons designed by Adrien Campion and Joseph van den Kerchove who were inspired by the menagerie at Versailles. Unfortunately very little is known about the original commission of the series but it appears that one of the first sets was supplied to the Swedish Royal Collection through Carl Piper in 1695 (today at Björnstorp, Sweden). A further set bearing the arms of the Chevailier d'Allonne (d. 1707) is at château Merlemont, near Beavais, France. It is also interesting to note that the Garde Meuble purchased tapestries from Beauvais less frequently than from the Gobelins, however, this series feature among acquisitions made by Louis XIV for his château de Marly in 1696.
PHILIPPE BEHAGLE (d. 1705)
Philippe Behagle was a Flemish weaver from Oudenarde who had previously worked in Tournai. He was appointed director of Beauvais workshop in 1684 after Louis Hinard resigned as a result of financial difficulties. Edith A. Standen describes the manufactory under Behagle's leadership as 'prolific' ('The Tapestry Weaver and the King; Philippe Behagle and Louis XIV', Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol 33, 1998, p. 183.) during which 1300 tapestries were created. One of his first commercial successes was a series entitled Conquests of the King. On his death in 1705 the workshop was overseen by his wife and son until 1711.
NOËL-ANTOINE DE MÉROU (d. 1734)
Noël-Antoine de Mérou took over direction of the Beauvais workshop between 1722-1726 and oversaw showrooms in Paris, Leipzig and Ratisbon, Germany until his death in 1734.
A tapestry depicting this same scene but lacking the border is in the Kunstindustrimuseet (Danish Museum of Decorative Art), Copenhagen and is illustrated in J. Coural and C. Gastinel-Coural, Beauvais, 1992, p. 32, fig. 16. A further example was sold at Sotheby's Monaco, 21-22 May 1978, lot 102 and acquired by the J. Paul Getty Museum, California.