EARLY 18TH CENTURY

This tapestry forms part of a series depicting Les Jeux d'Enfants inspired by Charles LeBrun's (1619 - 1690) Les Saisons and Les Enfants Jardiniers, which were first woven before 1673 at the Royal Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory. Aubusson also took inspiration from an earlier design by Michel Corneille (d. 1664) depicting Les Jeux d'Enfants which were woven in the pre-Gobelins workshop of Raphal de la Planche. It is probable that it was the marchand Evrard Jabach who inspired the weavers of both Aubusson and Felletin to adopt this theme. A tapestry depicting La Danse and another depicting Le Saut Mouton are in the Muse du Petit Palais, Paris, and bear the signatures of Maingonnat and Vallenet respectively (D. and P. Chevalier, P.-F. Bertrand, Les tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin, Paris, 1988, pp. 78 and 79). The theme was widely copied and similar tapetries were certainly also woven at Beauvais, Brussels and Mortlake.