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Lot Essay
Coverlets such as this were produced in Canton and Macao from the 17th Century onwards and were designed to appeal to the Export market. Several examples are known with European crests worked into the central medallion. Motifs are often European, including grotesques and cherubs, mixed with 'Oriental' flowers, swags, butterflies and phoenix.
Chintzes with a closely related design were commissioned in large quantities by the various East India companies. In Holland, several elements of these silk coverlets were incorporated in the headboards and valances of state beds, whereas other examples were indeed used as coverlet. The bed from Eerde Castle near Ommen which was built for Baron Werner van Pallandt in 1715, incorporates similar silk elements. (R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Zwolle, 1993, pp. 76-77). A further example, which is closely related to the Schermerhorn coverlet, appears on the state bed from the collection of the Counts of Aldenburg Bentinck at Amerongen Castle. (C. de Jonge/W. Vogelsang, Hllandische Mbel und Raumkunst von 1650-1780, The Hague, 1922, p. 157).
Chintzes with a closely related design were commissioned in large quantities by the various East India companies. In Holland, several elements of these silk coverlets were incorporated in the headboards and valances of state beds, whereas other examples were indeed used as coverlet. The bed from Eerde Castle near Ommen which was built for Baron Werner van Pallandt in 1715, incorporates similar silk elements. (R.J. Baarsen, Nederlandse Meubelen 1600-1800, Zwolle, 1993, pp. 76-77). A further example, which is closely related to the Schermerhorn coverlet, appears on the state bed from the collection of the Counts of Aldenburg Bentinck at Amerongen Castle. (C. de Jonge/W. Vogelsang, Hllandische Mbel und Raumkunst von 1650-1780, The Hague, 1922, p. 157).