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Lot Essay
Many of the embroideries imported into Portugal from India in the 17th century are associated with the port of Satgaon, present day Saptagram, and Hooghly. Particularly prized were figural examples, of the type which the council of the British East India Company at Surat in 1619 described as 'stitched with birds, beasts, or work very thick, such as used by the Moors instead of carpets. Of this sort there comes, it seems, from Bengalla'. Visiting Bengal in 1629, the Portuguese missionary Sebastian Manrique similarly noted the rich trade in 'very rich back-stitched quilts, bed hangings, pavilions, and other curious articles worked with hunting-scenes' (both quoted in John Irwin and Margaret Hall, Indian Embroideries, Ahmedabad, 1973, p.36).
Many surviving examples of this tradition of embroidery are densely woven in yellow silk thread only, frequently depicting biblical scenes such as an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.1975.4). Ours comes from a second group, using polychrome silk and with a symmetrical pattern about the vertical axis. Often they are decorated with horsemen surrounded by what Virginia West described as 'a veritable bestiary of stags, dragons, heraldic lions, and strange animals' in her description of a piece displayed at Portugal and the East through Embroidery, the Textile Museum, Washington D.C., 11 December 1981-23 January 1982 (HALI vol.4, no.3, p.300). Like our example, that embroidery was also decorated with the double-headed eagle. This instantly recognisable symbol of the Habsburg royal family indicates that these embroideries were both made after the period when Portugal was under direct rule of Spain between 1580 and 1640.
A similar embroidery, also with a hunting scene, was sold Sotheby's London, 18 January 2023, lot 169.
Many surviving examples of this tradition of embroidery are densely woven in yellow silk thread only, frequently depicting biblical scenes such as an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.1975.4). Ours comes from a second group, using polychrome silk and with a symmetrical pattern about the vertical axis. Often they are decorated with horsemen surrounded by what Virginia West described as 'a veritable bestiary of stags, dragons, heraldic lions, and strange animals' in her description of a piece displayed at Portugal and the East through Embroidery, the Textile Museum, Washington D.C., 11 December 1981-23 January 1982 (HALI vol.4, no.3, p.300). Like our example, that embroidery was also decorated with the double-headed eagle. This instantly recognisable symbol of the Habsburg royal family indicates that these embroideries were both made after the period when Portugal was under direct rule of Spain between 1580 and 1640.
A similar embroidery, also with a hunting scene, was sold Sotheby's London, 18 January 2023, lot 169.