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拍品專文
The carpeting of the grande galerie of the Louvre Palace by Louis XIV is probably the largest coordinated project for hand made carpeting in the West. Conceived at a period when carpets of this size and finesse had never been made, this project of 93 carpets, all of identical length spanning the gallery, reflected the near infinite confidence of the king at the time. The total area to be covered was 3800 square metres, a huge concept, even for the most advanced present-day workshops. The "Sun King" was at the peak of his powers and wanted this reflected in the architectural and decorative projects he undertook.
The grande galerie and its decoration
In 1640 the artist Nicolas Poussin, who had gained a very strong reputation in Rome, returned to Paris. The king appointed him the following year to design the interior of the massive grande gallerie, running along the north side of the palace overlooking the river. Poussin worked out an ambitious scheme which was based around the life of Hercules (Blunt, Anthony: 'Poussin Studies VI: Poussin's Decoration of the Long Gallery in the Louvre', The Burlington Magazine, vol.XCIII, 1951, pp.369-376). The ceiling was conceived in transverse panels, filled with designs some of which were in chiaroscuro, and reputedly combined with plaster casts taken from Trajan's column. Unfortunately very few records survive; the only known depictions are a small woodcut and a beautifully detailed enamelled scene on a gold box made for the Duc de Choiseul (Verlet, Pierre: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, The Savonnerie, London, 1982, fig. 115, p.184 and fig.120, p.191).
Poussin rapidly became disillusioned with the way he was expected to work in Paris and returned to Rome. Work thus continued in a somewhat desultory manner after its bright start. Shortly after a fire, in 1668 work was again resumed, using the same scheme as a basis. Both the king's first painter, Charles le Brun, and his architect, Louis Le Vau, were actively involved in this revitalisation of the designs.
Apart from the designs for the grande galerie, the main legacy Poussin left in Paris from his short trip was the discovery of the artist Charles le Brun, who he took to Rome with him on his return (Bean, Jacob: 'Le séjour pathetique de Poussin à Paris', Connaissance des Arts, May, 1960). Le Brun returned to Paris, infused with the new spirit of classicism, and became first painter to the king. The overall concept of the series of magnificent carpets is most likely to be his, although many others were also certainly involved, including, almost certainly, Le Vau. The superbly draughted scrollwork which forms the black ground on each carpet certainly shows Le Brun's influence, and there is a design in Paris in his hand which bears a very close resemblance to the scrollwork and hunting trophies of the forty-third carpet (Verlet, op.cit., p.427, note 85). One of the cartoon makers also received payment for the "ouvrages qu'il fait pour mettre au net les dessins du Sr. Le Brun" (Verlet, op.cit., p.182).
The manufacturing of the carpets
The first carpet was delivered the same year that work was resumed on the decoration of the gallery after the fire, presumably as a trial. Two years later came the first substantial delivery: a further nine carpets. After this, for the next twelve or so years, about the same number were delivered each year, with the strange exceptions of 1674 and 1676 which saw no new arrivals. These carpets were produced by two different workshops, run by the Lourdet and Dupont families, who by Colbert's decree had ceased fifty years of bitter feuding and combined in the same premises for this enormous project.
We are lucky that the records kept in the royal garde meuble are very detailed and thorough. They describe the designs on each of the carpets, together with the size, which enables the place of each to be identified within the series. The description of numbers 10 and 14, which were woven as a pair, translates "The large panel has a white ground and in each corner there is a trophy of arms; on two of its sides are two heads of Hercules with clubs, and on the other two sides, two lions' masks also with clubs. In the centre is another panel, octagonal in shape, with a faded rose-pink ground, and in the middle of this are crowned interlaced LL's. At each end is an oval panel with a landscape" (Verlet, op.cit., p.477). From all the various descriptions, this is the only one which has all the elements which are seen in the present carpet.
A carpet in the Rothschild Collection, formerly at Mentmore, is the other one of the pair. While more complete than the present carpet, it is still fragmentary, missing a portion of the design across the centre. It is the present carpet which supplies the hitherto unknown designs for the lunette panels containing the lion masks with clubs mentioned in the description. It enables the plan at the back of Verlet's excellent catalogue to be redrawn with the two ends in the correct proportion.
The royal archives, as well as giving an excellent description of each carpet, were meticulous about recording the movement of each, so that it is possible to put together a history of each. We are lucky in that the 10th and 14th carpets appear almost always to have been treated as a pair, and that it is therefore not necessary to distinguish between them. While the original delivery date of each carpet is not known, a combination of records shows the Lourdet workshop delivering nine carpets in addition to the first trial one in 1670, followed by eight in 1671 and four in 1672. The first carpets delivered by Dupont were in 1673, which included the 22nd, 24th and 25th of the series. This indicates that they were woven approximately in sequence and that therefore this carpet was almost certainly delivered from the Lourdet workshop in 1670 or 1671. It and its pair were amongst the largest of the entire series; it is significant that the main feature of the design is the mask of, and various attributes associated with Hercules, which was also the theme of Poussin's ceiling design.
The history of the present carpet
Both Louis XIV and Louis XV used the series of carpets to impress embassies from the East. Of the carpets from the Savonnerie which were given away as presents, before it became more frequent in the middle of the 18th century, an extraordinarily high percentage went to ambassadors from Moscow (1681), Siam (1685), Persia (1715), Egypt (1716), Tripoli (1720), and Turkey (1721, 1740 and 1742) (Verlet, op.cit, Appendix B, pp.497-500). Similarly the carpets were also used in displays made to impress the most important of these visitors. The present carpet was one of those chosen to be rolled out on 11 June 1742 in honour of Zaid Effendi, the Ambassador of the Turkish Sultan Mahmud I (Verlet, op.cit, note 99, p.429). Although the numbers of the specific carpets are not given in the records, Verlet thinks it probable due to the similarities of the formalities, that this carpet was also used for the preceding similar grand event, the reception of the Persian ambassador in 1715. In 1787 this carpet was also one of five sent to the port of Brest to welcome the ambassador of Tippoo Sultan in 1787. At the time the condition of the pair of carpets was noted as "ces tapis ont du service mais ils sont frais" (Verlet, op.cit., note 100, p.429). In other words they were already showing signs of use over two hundred years ago.
At this point it is probable that the two carpets were separated. Number ten was used in Paris for the historic assembly of notables in 1787 and was recorded in store in Paris in 1792. Verlet wonders if, possibly due to its condition, the fourteenth remained in Brest after the reception of Tippoo's ambassador. However, by 1797 it had rejoined the others and was, with its pair, one of the twenty-eight sold on 26th July of that year to "David Bourdillon le jeune par procuration de Raymond Bourdillon" (Verlet, op.cit., note 135, pp.431-2). A process of elimination shows that both of the pair were among the five from this group which were declined when offered for sale back to the nation in 1807. One cannot help wondering if that comment in Brest in 1787 about the condition underlay the refusal. Since 1807 all trace of this carpet vanished; it is one of those noted by Verlet as missing. Its re-appearance shows however that he was right in his conviction that the majority of the missing carpets still exist, at least in part.
The grande galerie and its decoration
In 1640 the artist Nicolas Poussin, who had gained a very strong reputation in Rome, returned to Paris. The king appointed him the following year to design the interior of the massive grande gallerie, running along the north side of the palace overlooking the river. Poussin worked out an ambitious scheme which was based around the life of Hercules (Blunt, Anthony: 'Poussin Studies VI: Poussin's Decoration of the Long Gallery in the Louvre', The Burlington Magazine, vol.XCIII, 1951, pp.369-376). The ceiling was conceived in transverse panels, filled with designs some of which were in chiaroscuro, and reputedly combined with plaster casts taken from Trajan's column. Unfortunately very few records survive; the only known depictions are a small woodcut and a beautifully detailed enamelled scene on a gold box made for the Duc de Choiseul (Verlet, Pierre: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, The Savonnerie, London, 1982, fig. 115, p.184 and fig.120, p.191).
Poussin rapidly became disillusioned with the way he was expected to work in Paris and returned to Rome. Work thus continued in a somewhat desultory manner after its bright start. Shortly after a fire, in 1668 work was again resumed, using the same scheme as a basis. Both the king's first painter, Charles le Brun, and his architect, Louis Le Vau, were actively involved in this revitalisation of the designs.
Apart from the designs for the grande galerie, the main legacy Poussin left in Paris from his short trip was the discovery of the artist Charles le Brun, who he took to Rome with him on his return (Bean, Jacob: 'Le séjour pathetique de Poussin à Paris', Connaissance des Arts, May, 1960). Le Brun returned to Paris, infused with the new spirit of classicism, and became first painter to the king. The overall concept of the series of magnificent carpets is most likely to be his, although many others were also certainly involved, including, almost certainly, Le Vau. The superbly draughted scrollwork which forms the black ground on each carpet certainly shows Le Brun's influence, and there is a design in Paris in his hand which bears a very close resemblance to the scrollwork and hunting trophies of the forty-third carpet (Verlet, op.cit., p.427, note 85). One of the cartoon makers also received payment for the "ouvrages qu'il fait pour mettre au net les dessins du Sr. Le Brun" (Verlet, op.cit., p.182).
The manufacturing of the carpets
The first carpet was delivered the same year that work was resumed on the decoration of the gallery after the fire, presumably as a trial. Two years later came the first substantial delivery: a further nine carpets. After this, for the next twelve or so years, about the same number were delivered each year, with the strange exceptions of 1674 and 1676 which saw no new arrivals. These carpets were produced by two different workshops, run by the Lourdet and Dupont families, who by Colbert's decree had ceased fifty years of bitter feuding and combined in the same premises for this enormous project.
We are lucky that the records kept in the royal garde meuble are very detailed and thorough. They describe the designs on each of the carpets, together with the size, which enables the place of each to be identified within the series. The description of numbers 10 and 14, which were woven as a pair, translates "The large panel has a white ground and in each corner there is a trophy of arms; on two of its sides are two heads of Hercules with clubs, and on the other two sides, two lions' masks also with clubs. In the centre is another panel, octagonal in shape, with a faded rose-pink ground, and in the middle of this are crowned interlaced LL's. At each end is an oval panel with a landscape" (Verlet, op.cit., p.477). From all the various descriptions, this is the only one which has all the elements which are seen in the present carpet.
A carpet in the Rothschild Collection, formerly at Mentmore, is the other one of the pair. While more complete than the present carpet, it is still fragmentary, missing a portion of the design across the centre. It is the present carpet which supplies the hitherto unknown designs for the lunette panels containing the lion masks with clubs mentioned in the description. It enables the plan at the back of Verlet's excellent catalogue to be redrawn with the two ends in the correct proportion.
The royal archives, as well as giving an excellent description of each carpet, were meticulous about recording the movement of each, so that it is possible to put together a history of each. We are lucky in that the 10th and 14th carpets appear almost always to have been treated as a pair, and that it is therefore not necessary to distinguish between them. While the original delivery date of each carpet is not known, a combination of records shows the Lourdet workshop delivering nine carpets in addition to the first trial one in 1670, followed by eight in 1671 and four in 1672. The first carpets delivered by Dupont were in 1673, which included the 22nd, 24th and 25th of the series. This indicates that they were woven approximately in sequence and that therefore this carpet was almost certainly delivered from the Lourdet workshop in 1670 or 1671. It and its pair were amongst the largest of the entire series; it is significant that the main feature of the design is the mask of, and various attributes associated with Hercules, which was also the theme of Poussin's ceiling design.
The history of the present carpet
Both Louis XIV and Louis XV used the series of carpets to impress embassies from the East. Of the carpets from the Savonnerie which were given away as presents, before it became more frequent in the middle of the 18th century, an extraordinarily high percentage went to ambassadors from Moscow (1681), Siam (1685), Persia (1715), Egypt (1716), Tripoli (1720), and Turkey (1721, 1740 and 1742) (Verlet, op.cit, Appendix B, pp.497-500). Similarly the carpets were also used in displays made to impress the most important of these visitors. The present carpet was one of those chosen to be rolled out on 11 June 1742 in honour of Zaid Effendi, the Ambassador of the Turkish Sultan Mahmud I (Verlet, op.cit, note 99, p.429). Although the numbers of the specific carpets are not given in the records, Verlet thinks it probable due to the similarities of the formalities, that this carpet was also used for the preceding similar grand event, the reception of the Persian ambassador in 1715. In 1787 this carpet was also one of five sent to the port of Brest to welcome the ambassador of Tippoo Sultan in 1787. At the time the condition of the pair of carpets was noted as "ces tapis ont du service mais ils sont frais" (Verlet, op.cit., note 100, p.429). In other words they were already showing signs of use over two hundred years ago.
At this point it is probable that the two carpets were separated. Number ten was used in Paris for the historic assembly of notables in 1787 and was recorded in store in Paris in 1792. Verlet wonders if, possibly due to its condition, the fourteenth remained in Brest after the reception of Tippoo's ambassador. However, by 1797 it had rejoined the others and was, with its pair, one of the twenty-eight sold on 26th July of that year to "David Bourdillon le jeune par procuration de Raymond Bourdillon" (Verlet, op.cit., note 135, pp.431-2). A process of elimination shows that both of the pair were among the five from this group which were declined when offered for sale back to the nation in 1807. One cannot help wondering if that comment in Brest in 1787 about the condition underlay the refusal. Since 1807 all trace of this carpet vanished; it is one of those noted by Verlet as missing. Its re-appearance shows however that he was right in his conviction that the majority of the missing carpets still exist, at least in part.