FIRST QUARTER 17TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY BY JAN II RAES

Details

A BRUSSELS HISTORICAL TAPESTRY
First quarter 17th century, possibly by Jan II Raes
Woven in wools and silks, depicting a Roman general before a kneeling man and further soldiers, with various buildings beyond, within an elaborate fruiting border, with masks to the upper corners and with large clasps centred by a star to each side, lacking lower border, areas of patching to the lower section, losses to the silk, some reweaving, particularly to the brown areas, mounted on a baton
10 ft. 2 in. x 8 ft. 6 in. (310 cm. x 260 cm.)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The borders on this tapestry are very similar to those on a set of The Story of Decius Mus in the Spanish Royal Collection that are signed by Jan II Raes and Jacob II Geubels (d. 1629) (in P. Junquera de Vega and C. Diaz Gallegos, Catalogo de Tapices del Patrimonio Nacional, Madrid, 1986, vol. II, cat. 52, pp. 89 - 97, this subject being p. 91). Weavers often had their typical borders and it is therefore very possible that this tapestry was also woven by Jan II Raes who is known to have used identical borders on other tapestry sets. Jan II Raes belonged to one of the most important weaver's dynasties of Brussels between 1580 and 1650. The three successive owners of the workshop all had the Christian name Jan, but Jan II was the most important of them. He was granted the privileges in 1613 and 1629 and was burgomaster of Brussels 1634 - 35 (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, p. 368).

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