.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
HISTORY OF THE SET
This magnificent Don Quixote tapestry, depicting The Enchanted Head from the House of Don Antonio, was woven by Michel Audran, who led the first of the three Gobelins high loom ateliers between 1732 and 1771. It formed part of the sixth weaving of the subject, commissioned by the then Surintendant des Bâtiments the Marquis de Marigny, and was on the looms between January 1755 and 14 July 1756. The complete set was finished by early September 1761 and comprised 23 different subjects plus six overdoor panels. Four tapestries and the six overdoor panels were presented by Louis XV to Count de Woronzow, Grand Chancelier of Russia, in 1758/59, a further six tapestries were sold to Jean Paris de Marmontel, Guard of the Royal Treasury, and four tapestries to Madame Viron in 1763. A single panel was also supplied to Madame de Monmartel in 1767. The remaining eight panels, which included The Enchanted Head, were given to Charles Henri Poussin, tapissier, in 1773 as part of a payment for supplying furniture to Versailles and Fontainebleau between 1766 and 1769. Charles Henri Poussin, maître on 4 June 1742, is recorded as juror on 7 December 1752 and syndic de sa communauté on 10 December 1765. He was one of the main suppliers to the Garde Meuble de la Couronne, which owed him the large amount of 58,229 livres, between 1766 and 1773.
HISTORY OF THE SERIES
This tapestry series was originally conceived under the directorship of Robert de Cotte (1656 - 1735), the Royal Architect in Chief and Director of the Gobelins (1699 - 1735) and the duc d'Antin, Surintendant des Bâtiments (1708 - 1736) and was woven for the first time in 1717 for the duc d'Antin (the duc d'Antin set, comprising 16 panels, was sold at Christie's London 10 June 1993, lot 110 for £771,500). The Don Quixote tapestries are of particular importance because they represent a new mood at the Gobelins and in the decorative arts in France. The subject is both witty and frivolous, far removed from the more sombre classical or military subjects favored during the reign of Louis XIV. The borders or alentours, which appear for the first time in this form in these tapestries, are of a revolutionary design and are treated with almost equal importance to the scenes themselves. The story of Don Quixote proved popular at Gobelins throughout the 18th Century, and was woven in at least nine separate weavings with six different alentours, the first in 1717 and the last in 1778.
Interestingly the painting which formed the basis for this tapestry was only executed by Coypel in 1732, long after the first sets were finished. The Royal records indicate for 2 July 1738:
Au sr Coypel, peintre, la somme de 1,300# pour son paiment d'un tableau de l'Histoire de Dom Quichotte, qu'il a peint pour étre exécuté en ma manufacture royale des Gobelins pendant l'année 1732, suivant un mémoire certifié, cy1,300#
BORDERS
The alentours of this tapestry forms part of the fifth version, which was a variant of the second version, designed in 1721. That version was a collaboration between Claude Audran III (d. 1734), Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay fils (d. 1730) and Frangois Desportes (d. 1743) under the leadership of Charles Coypel (d. 1752) and formed the basis for sets woven for the Prince de Campo Florido, Ambassador of Spain, and for Infante Don Philippe, Duke of Parma. The fifth version was executed by Vallade (of whom very little is known) for 2,500 livres under the supervision of Charles Coypel and supplied to Michel Audran in 1751, but was only used until 1760, when it was replaced by a further design.
This magnificent Don Quixote tapestry, depicting The Enchanted Head from the House of Don Antonio, was woven by Michel Audran, who led the first of the three Gobelins high loom ateliers between 1732 and 1771. It formed part of the sixth weaving of the subject, commissioned by the then Surintendant des Bâtiments the Marquis de Marigny, and was on the looms between January 1755 and 14 July 1756. The complete set was finished by early September 1761 and comprised 23 different subjects plus six overdoor panels. Four tapestries and the six overdoor panels were presented by Louis XV to Count de Woronzow, Grand Chancelier of Russia, in 1758/59, a further six tapestries were sold to Jean Paris de Marmontel, Guard of the Royal Treasury, and four tapestries to Madame Viron in 1763. A single panel was also supplied to Madame de Monmartel in 1767. The remaining eight panels, which included The Enchanted Head, were given to Charles Henri Poussin, tapissier, in 1773 as part of a payment for supplying furniture to Versailles and Fontainebleau between 1766 and 1769. Charles Henri Poussin, maître on 4 June 1742, is recorded as juror on 7 December 1752 and syndic de sa communauté on 10 December 1765. He was one of the main suppliers to the Garde Meuble de la Couronne, which owed him the large amount of 58,229 livres, between 1766 and 1773.
HISTORY OF THE SERIES
This tapestry series was originally conceived under the directorship of Robert de Cotte (1656 - 1735), the Royal Architect in Chief and Director of the Gobelins (1699 - 1735) and the duc d'Antin, Surintendant des Bâtiments (1708 - 1736) and was woven for the first time in 1717 for the duc d'Antin (the duc d'Antin set, comprising 16 panels, was sold at Christie's London 10 June 1993, lot 110 for £771,500). The Don Quixote tapestries are of particular importance because they represent a new mood at the Gobelins and in the decorative arts in France. The subject is both witty and frivolous, far removed from the more sombre classical or military subjects favored during the reign of Louis XIV. The borders or alentours, which appear for the first time in this form in these tapestries, are of a revolutionary design and are treated with almost equal importance to the scenes themselves. The story of Don Quixote proved popular at Gobelins throughout the 18th Century, and was woven in at least nine separate weavings with six different alentours, the first in 1717 and the last in 1778.
Interestingly the painting which formed the basis for this tapestry was only executed by Coypel in 1732, long after the first sets were finished. The Royal records indicate for 2 July 1738:
Au sr Coypel, peintre, la somme de 1,300# pour son paiment d'un tableau de l'Histoire de Dom Quichotte, qu'il a peint pour étre exécuté en ma manufacture royale des Gobelins pendant l'année 1732, suivant un mémoire certifié, cy1,300#
BORDERS
The alentours of this tapestry forms part of the fifth version, which was a variant of the second version, designed in 1721. That version was a collaboration between Claude Audran III (d. 1734), Jean-Baptiste Belin de Fontenay fils (d. 1730) and Frangois Desportes (d. 1743) under the leadership of Charles Coypel (d. 1752) and formed the basis for sets woven for the Prince de Campo Florido, Ambassador of Spain, and for Infante Don Philippe, Duke of Parma. The fifth version was executed by Vallade (of whom very little is known) for 2,500 livres under the supervision of Charles Coypel and supplied to Michel Audran in 1751, but was only used until 1760, when it was replaced by a further design.