A ROYAL LOUIS XIV CHANCELLERIE TAPESTRY
THE PROPERTY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE WERNHER FOUNDATION
A ROYAL LOUIS XIV CHANCELLERIE TAPESTRY

BY JEAN LE FEBVRE FILS, CIRCA 1703, AFTER A DESIGN BY GUY-LOUIS VERNANSAL, PAVILLON AND CLAUDE III AUDRAN

Details
A ROYAL LOUIS XIV CHANCELLERIE TAPESTRY
BY JEAN LE FEBVRE FILS, CIRCA 1703, AFTER A DESIGN BY GUY-LOUIS VERNANSAL, PAVILLON AND CLAUDE III AUDRAN
Woven in wools and silks, centered by the Royal Arms of France and Navarre and the collars of the Orders of Saint-Michel and Saint-Esprit above the casket with the Royal seals, beneath a lambrequined canopy suspending an ermine cloak, supported by winged youths, above eagles and the all-seeing eye of Justice and flanked by female figures emblematic of Justice and Prudence, all within an architectural framework with Corinthian columns and a fleur-de-lys ground, the corners with the Arms of Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, the lower border centred by his monogram, each border with pairs of putti emblematic of Justice and Mercy, Reward and Punishment, interspersed with crossed sceptres, female masks, shells and acanthus foliage, the lower and upper borders with a rose-trellis ground, possibly reduced in width, with associated vertical areas of reweaving to fleur-de-lys and blue ground of both sides, the coat-of-arms and central monogram to border associated, with several cuts and associated reweaving to upper border and along the sides of the canopy
13 ft. 6 in. (411 cm.) high; 13 ft. 8 in. (417 cm.) wide
Provenance
Presented to Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain (d. 1727), by King Louis XIV in 1703, and possibly by descent until after 1900 at the château de Pontchartrain.
Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. (1850-1912), Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, in the Entrance Hall, by whom bequeathed, with a life interest to his widow Alice, Lady Wernher, subsequently Lady Ludlow (1862-1945), and to his son Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt. (1893-1973), Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, in the Blue Hall, and by descent.
Literature
M. Fenaille, État Général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, Paris, 1904, III, pp. 134-135.
1913 Luton Hoo Inventory, p. 2, no. 6, in the Entrance Hall.
H. Göbel, Die Wandteppiche und ihre Manufakturen in Frankreich Italien Spanien und Portugal, Leipzig, 1928, I, p. 172.
E. Standen, European Post-Medieval Tapestries and Related Hangings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1985, vol. I, p. 362.

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Lot Essay

Louis XIV started the tradition of presenting the powerful chancellor, or his keeper of seals (garde des seaux), with a set of Gobelins tapestries in 1679. The chancellor was chief justice for life, first among the crown officers and head of the judicial system. He was the only officer to hold his position even through changes of Regents and did not wear mourning. He represented the King, interpreted the will and sealed and dispatched laws, declarations, provisions of office and letters of grace and justice. In ceremonies, he sat to the left of the King. The chancellor was also a minister to the King and sat on almost all of the Royal councils. As a legal magistrate he could preside over the sovereign courts, all tribunals of France and over the parliament. He was advised by a body of assessors (maître des requêtes) and the conseillers d'Etat.
The first chancellor to receive these tapestries as a gift from the King was Michel Le Tellier. Although two examples of this first set of ten tapestries survive, the designer remains unknown. One version is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris (N. Gasc and G. Mabille, The Nissim de Camondo Museum, Paris, 1997, p. 94) and only preserves the original central section while the borders have been altered and now bear the arms of chancellor d'Argenson (d. 1721), while the other with original borders was sold in Paris, 25 May 1892, lot 8. The second set of chancellerie tapestries given to Louis Boucherat (d. 1699) in 1686 was exceptionally executed in the Royal Beauvais Workshops under Philip Béhagle (d. 1705) and was designed by François Bonnemer (d. 1689) while the borders were executed by Jean Le Moyne (d. 1713) (F. Joubert, A. Lefébure and P.F. Bertrand, Histoire de la Tapisserie, Paris, 1995, p. 169). Two examples remain in the Mobilier National in Paris, another, from the property of François Guérault, was sold in Paris, 21-22 March 1935, lot 39, and another, sold, Christie's, New York, 21 April 1979, lot 187.
The general design of the subsequent weavings remained similar. The renewed design was created by Guy-Louis Vernansal (d. 1729), who drew the figures, Pavillon (active until 1712), who drew the coats-of-arms, and Claude III Audran (d. 1734), who appears to have created the rest, in 1700 and 1701. The first weaving to these designs was executed for Louis Phélypeaux (d.1727) who was chancellor between 1699 and 1714.
Louis Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain was from 1676 the President of the Brittany Parliament, and in 1690, was elevated to the position of Intendant des finances et Controleur des finances. He attained the pinnacle of his career with his appointment as chancellier in 1699, and shortly after his marriage to Marie de Maupéou purchased the Hôtel de Lionne on the rue Neuve des Petits Champs. Following his wife's death in 1714, he retired as chancellier. His son Jerome was the father of Louis XVI's future Prime Minister, the comte de Maurepas.

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