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Lot Essay
The present lot belongs to an early group of French Savonnerie carpets frequently considered to have been woven during the reign of Louis XIII. It is increasingly believed however that this, and similar carpets, were in fact woven during the period after the death of Louis XIII in 1643 and before the succession of Louis XIV to the throne in 1661.
On January 4, 1608, Henri IV encouraged French carpet production by granting workshop space in the basement of the Louvre below the Grande Galerie to Pierre Dupont tapissier ordinaire en tapis de Turquie at façons de Levant, (see Pierre Verlet, The James Rothschild Collection at Waddersdon Manor, The Savonnerie, The National Trust, London, 1982, p. 28). One of Dupont's apprentices, Simon Lourdet, quickly became so proficient at producing carpets of a superior quality, that he ingratiated himself to the Dowager Queen, Marie de Medicis, who allowed him to install another workshop in the former soap factory, or savonnerie at Chaillot. A partnership agreement between Dupont and Lourdet was signed on September 5, 1626 to share the profits and expenses of both workshops and both produced carpets of very similar design up until 1664. As no records survive from this period it is very difficult to specifically attribute this carpet to either workshop.
Carpets from this period share in common many features, foremost the black, dark blue or sometimes brown ground colour that is abundantly filled with colourful strewn naturalistic and identifiable flowers or sprays. A wide and defined border surrounds the field containing similar flowers and floral arrangements creating a millefleurs effect. Often the flower arrangements in the border are arranged in blue and white Chinese porcelain bowls, silver basins, cartouches or, as seen in our example, low open work straw baskets. The minor borders separating the border from the field and outlining the border are typically drawn from elements of the antique or from borders used in tapestries from the same period. A spiralling ribbon and leaf tip ornament is used in both minor stripes in our example.
It is not known who designed or provided the models for these carpets but the overall concept is based on Oriental (Persian, Indian and Turkish) carpets combined with the European taste for flowers. Contemporary designs for embroidery and tapestries are very similar and Dupont was known to be an embroiderer, as well as a carpet weaver. Another artist working for the crown, Georges Baussonnet signed a number of drawings dated between 1592 and 1636 that are quite similar to the accurate depiction of flower specimens in these carpets (see Verlet, fig.101). Further inspiration can be found in still life paintings from the Netherlands and one in particular, painted by Jacques Linard (c.1600-45) of a 'Basket of Flowers' currently in the Louvre, bears a strong resemblance to the depiction of the basket of flowers in the borders of our carpet (see S. Sherrill, Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, Abbeville Press, New York, 1996, p. 65, plate 69). The strong similarities and repetitious designs of the so-called Louis XIII carpets from this period indicate that the repertoire of designs of this relatively young workshop was limited. However, this also suggests that they were a success and found favour with the court.
The production of Savonnerie carpets at this time was solely made for the order of the King, his family and as ambassadorial gifts to foreign diplomats and to members of his court. Most, with a few exceptions, were small in size and were most likely intended as table covers while the larger examples were used as floor coverings. An early French engraving by Baussonnet entitled "Bordure D'un Tapis de Table", displaying sketches of similar ribbon-tied floral sprays and flower and fruit-filled baskets is illustrated in Verlet, fig.100. Many of the carpets thought to have been used as table carpets include depictions of companes or ornamental tassels, which would hang down from the table in a trompe l'oeil imitation of the bell-like tassels found embellishing needlepoint and tapestry furniture coverings of the time. Because the offered carpet is of relatively small size, it is possible that its original function was as a table carpet but unlike other examples of the same purpose, it is lacking the depiction of tassels.
The present carpet was formerly part of the collection of Léon Fould (1839–1924), part of the Fould banking dynasty founded in Paris in the 1790's. Fould 's brother-in-law, Maurice Ephrussi (1849–1916), was married to Béatrice de Rothschild, daughter of Alphonse de Rothschild, who in the early 1900's built Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Villa Ephrussi continues to house a number of wonderful works of art acquired by Maurice, including an important Grand Galerie Louis XIV Savonnerie and a smaller Louis XV Savonnerie which was one of a set of five carpets commissioned for the chapel at the Palace of Versailles, but which is the sole survivor as the other four were burned during the Revolution.
Several carpets from the present group survive, in the Louvre, cat. no. 300, illustrated in Verlet, fig. 106, p. 171; in the Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1966, vol. II, plate 276, pp. 492-493; in the James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddeson Manor, see Verlet, cat. No. 1 fig. 104, pp. 168-170; in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, inv. no. 177; in the J. Paul Getty Museum, no. 70.DC.63, see Charissa Bremer-David, French Tapestries and Textiles in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1997, pp. 130-137; in the Tarica Collection, illustrated in Stephanie Faniel and Pierre Lavallois, Le Dix-septième Siècle Français, Collection Connaissance des Arts, Hachette, Paris, 1958, p. 131; the ex-collection of Thelma Chrysler Foy, sold at Parke-Bernet galleries, New York, May 22-23, 1959, lot 770; the Collection of the Late Andre Meyer, Christie's New York, 26 October 2011, lot 48 and anonymous, Sotheby's, New York, October 14, 1988, lot 94. All of these examples share with the present carpet an exuberance of detail in their depiction of the bountiful floral display.
On January 4, 1608, Henri IV encouraged French carpet production by granting workshop space in the basement of the Louvre below the Grande Galerie to Pierre Dupont tapissier ordinaire en tapis de Turquie at façons de Levant, (see Pierre Verlet, The James Rothschild Collection at Waddersdon Manor, The Savonnerie, The National Trust, London, 1982, p. 28). One of Dupont's apprentices, Simon Lourdet, quickly became so proficient at producing carpets of a superior quality, that he ingratiated himself to the Dowager Queen, Marie de Medicis, who allowed him to install another workshop in the former soap factory, or savonnerie at Chaillot. A partnership agreement between Dupont and Lourdet was signed on September 5, 1626 to share the profits and expenses of both workshops and both produced carpets of very similar design up until 1664. As no records survive from this period it is very difficult to specifically attribute this carpet to either workshop.
Carpets from this period share in common many features, foremost the black, dark blue or sometimes brown ground colour that is abundantly filled with colourful strewn naturalistic and identifiable flowers or sprays. A wide and defined border surrounds the field containing similar flowers and floral arrangements creating a millefleurs effect. Often the flower arrangements in the border are arranged in blue and white Chinese porcelain bowls, silver basins, cartouches or, as seen in our example, low open work straw baskets. The minor borders separating the border from the field and outlining the border are typically drawn from elements of the antique or from borders used in tapestries from the same period. A spiralling ribbon and leaf tip ornament is used in both minor stripes in our example.
It is not known who designed or provided the models for these carpets but the overall concept is based on Oriental (Persian, Indian and Turkish) carpets combined with the European taste for flowers. Contemporary designs for embroidery and tapestries are very similar and Dupont was known to be an embroiderer, as well as a carpet weaver. Another artist working for the crown, Georges Baussonnet signed a number of drawings dated between 1592 and 1636 that are quite similar to the accurate depiction of flower specimens in these carpets (see Verlet, fig.101). Further inspiration can be found in still life paintings from the Netherlands and one in particular, painted by Jacques Linard (c.1600-45) of a 'Basket of Flowers' currently in the Louvre, bears a strong resemblance to the depiction of the basket of flowers in the borders of our carpet (see S. Sherrill, Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, Abbeville Press, New York, 1996, p. 65, plate 69). The strong similarities and repetitious designs of the so-called Louis XIII carpets from this period indicate that the repertoire of designs of this relatively young workshop was limited. However, this also suggests that they were a success and found favour with the court.
The production of Savonnerie carpets at this time was solely made for the order of the King, his family and as ambassadorial gifts to foreign diplomats and to members of his court. Most, with a few exceptions, were small in size and were most likely intended as table covers while the larger examples were used as floor coverings. An early French engraving by Baussonnet entitled "Bordure D'un Tapis de Table", displaying sketches of similar ribbon-tied floral sprays and flower and fruit-filled baskets is illustrated in Verlet, fig.100. Many of the carpets thought to have been used as table carpets include depictions of companes or ornamental tassels, which would hang down from the table in a trompe l'oeil imitation of the bell-like tassels found embellishing needlepoint and tapestry furniture coverings of the time. Because the offered carpet is of relatively small size, it is possible that its original function was as a table carpet but unlike other examples of the same purpose, it is lacking the depiction of tassels.
The present carpet was formerly part of the collection of Léon Fould (1839–1924), part of the Fould banking dynasty founded in Paris in the 1790's. Fould 's brother-in-law, Maurice Ephrussi (1849–1916), was married to Béatrice de Rothschild, daughter of Alphonse de Rothschild, who in the early 1900's built Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Villa Ephrussi continues to house a number of wonderful works of art acquired by Maurice, including an important Grand Galerie Louis XIV Savonnerie and a smaller Louis XV Savonnerie which was one of a set of five carpets commissioned for the chapel at the Palace of Versailles, but which is the sole survivor as the other four were burned during the Revolution.
Several carpets from the present group survive, in the Louvre, cat. no. 300, illustrated in Verlet, fig. 106, p. 171; in the Wrightsman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, see F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1966, vol. II, plate 276, pp. 492-493; in the James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddeson Manor, see Verlet, cat. No. 1 fig. 104, pp. 168-170; in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, inv. no. 177; in the J. Paul Getty Museum, no. 70.DC.63, see Charissa Bremer-David, French Tapestries and Textiles in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1997, pp. 130-137; in the Tarica Collection, illustrated in Stephanie Faniel and Pierre Lavallois, Le Dix-septième Siècle Français, Collection Connaissance des Arts, Hachette, Paris, 1958, p. 131; the ex-collection of Thelma Chrysler Foy, sold at Parke-Bernet galleries, New York, May 22-23, 1959, lot 770; the Collection of the Late Andre Meyer, Christie's New York, 26 October 2011, lot 48 and anonymous, Sotheby's, New York, October 14, 1988, lot 94. All of these examples share with the present carpet an exuberance of detail in their depiction of the bountiful floral display.