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Lot Essay
Teniers tapestries were named after David Teniers the Younger (d. 1690), court painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the governor of The Netherlands. However, very few designs can actually be traced back to his work. Indeed records indicate that several painters supplied such designs to weavers, who each seem to have owned their own designs, allowing attributions. The designers recorded are Ignatius de Hondt, Jacob van Helmont, Jan van Orley and Theobald Michau (d. 1765).
The first appearance of Teniers tapestries was a set supplied to Prince Rupert of Bavaria by Jacob van der Borght and Jéroën le Clerc in 1693. The same weavers, with assistance of two further master weavers, supplied another set before 1700 to William III of England. The main production, however, took place in the 18th century, and became one of the most popular type of tapestries. The introduction of these designs coincided with the rise of the bourgeois class, which took such a liking to these subjects that this genre of tapestries was taken up by a multitude of workshops including in Beauvais, Lille, Audenarde, Soho, Aubusson, Madrid and of course Brussels. Nearly every workshop in Brussels wove such sets. Most workshops had numerous differing subjects, some up to 20 different designs, while Pieter and Jan-Frans van der Borght had 12 possible subjects that could be combined into a set. A sales catalogue of Pieter van der Borght lists two sets of Teniers tapestries, one of which is described as being by Theobald Michau. The Kermesse was the main subject around which most sets were centered.
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES AND WEAVERS
A tapestry of identical design but with differing border was in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (lost in a fire), and signed by Jan-Frans van der Borght (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, p. 353, fig. 13.4.). Pieter (d. 1763) and Jan-Frans (d. 1774) van der Borght are both recorded weaving this design. They took over the workshop from their father in 1742 and Pieter was the dean of the guild in 1745, 1747 and 1763. Other tapestries of this subject by these weavers include one that was formerly in the collection of the Earls of Bradford at Castle Bromwich and one from the collection of Major-General Sir George Burns, North Mymms Park, Hertfordshire, sold Christie's house sale, 24 - 26 September 1979, lot 494.
(G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, pp. 352 - 361)
The first appearance of Teniers tapestries was a set supplied to Prince Rupert of Bavaria by Jacob van der Borght and Jéroën le Clerc in 1693. The same weavers, with assistance of two further master weavers, supplied another set before 1700 to William III of England. The main production, however, took place in the 18th century, and became one of the most popular type of tapestries. The introduction of these designs coincided with the rise of the bourgeois class, which took such a liking to these subjects that this genre of tapestries was taken up by a multitude of workshops including in Beauvais, Lille, Audenarde, Soho, Aubusson, Madrid and of course Brussels. Nearly every workshop in Brussels wove such sets. Most workshops had numerous differing subjects, some up to 20 different designs, while Pieter and Jan-Frans van der Borght had 12 possible subjects that could be combined into a set. A sales catalogue of Pieter van der Borght lists two sets of Teniers tapestries, one of which is described as being by Theobald Michau. The Kermesse was the main subject around which most sets were centered.
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES AND WEAVERS
A tapestry of identical design but with differing border was in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (lost in a fire), and signed by Jan-Frans van der Borght (G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, p. 353, fig. 13.4.). Pieter (d. 1763) and Jan-Frans (d. 1774) van der Borght are both recorded weaving this design. They took over the workshop from their father in 1742 and Pieter was the dean of the guild in 1745, 1747 and 1763. Other tapestries of this subject by these weavers include one that was formerly in the collection of the Earls of Bradford at Castle Bromwich and one from the collection of Major-General Sir George Burns, North Mymms Park, Hertfordshire, sold Christie's house sale, 24 - 26 September 1979, lot 494.
(G. Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt, 1999, pp. 352 - 361)