SECOND QUARTER 18TH CENTURY, PROBABLY AFTER JACQUES NICOLAS JUILLARD

Jacques-Nicolas Juillard (d. 1790) studied under François Boucher and concentrated on the art of landscape painting. After travelling to Italy in 1749, he was commissioned to design a tapestry series for the marchand-mercier Mathieu Dessarteaux, which determined Juillard's subsequent career. He succeeded Jean-Joseph Dumons in 1755 as 'peintre des manufactures d'Aubusson et de Felletin'. His contract specified that he was to supply the workshops with a set of six designs for tapestries annually and to reside at Aubusson for four months every other year. Surprisingly, however, none of his designs for Gobelins, Beauvais or Aubusson have as yet been categorically identified, although it is known that he supplied at least thirteen series between 1755 and 1782 and continued to design tapestries until 1789.

A tapestry of identical design albeit slightly reduced to the sides and with a variant border, woven by Pierre Dumonteil is illustrated in D. Chevalier, P. Chevalier, et al. Les tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin, Paris, 1988, p. 148. This countryside scene evokes the works of painter Jacques-Nicolas Julliard who began making designs for Aubusson and Felletin factories in 1755. The pastoral subject matter of this tapestry reflects the influence that Boucher had on Julliard, and the taste of the period for rural themes.

A tapestry of this same design was sold anonymously, Christie's Monaco, 10 December 2000, lot 25 (141,000FF).