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Lot Essay
HISTORY OF MILLEFLEURS
The millefleurs design in tapestries evolved in circa 1450 -1460, one of the first fully developed examples to survive being the Armorial Tapestry of Philippe Le Bon of Burgundy woven in Brussels in circa 1466 (A. Rapp Buri and M. Stucky Schürer, Burgundische Tapisserien im Historischen Museum Bern, Munich, 2001, pp. 116 - 117). This genre of tapestry, however, remained popular until the mid-16th century. The wide variations in quality, the relative short period in which they were produced and the number of pieces known, indicate that numerous workshops made this type of tapestries. The vast majority of these ateliers are believed to have been in the Southern Netherlands. Millefleurs tapestries have frequently been ascribed symbolic values since in medieval times certain flowers and most animals had certain meanings. However, most will probably simply have been woven for decorative and utilitarian purposes.
ATTRIBUTION
The denseness and colouring of the flowers in this tapestry has most recently led to an attribution of this type of millefleurs to Bruges. A pair of tapestries with an elaborate central cartouche depicting The Story of Abraham, but on a similar ground, bears the town mark of Bruges on the outer slip (G. Delmarcel and E. Duverger, Bruges et la Tapisserie, exhibition catalogue, Bruges, 1987, pp. 188 - 189, figs. 3/8 and 3/9). A further tapestry with a central armorial device and set on a very similar millefleurs ground with numerous animals, that was offered at Galerie Koller in Zurich in 1971 was consequently tentatively attributed to Bruges by the authors (Delmarcel and Duverger, op. cit., p. 38, fig. 18).
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
Several related tapestries survive. A tapestry with similar horizon and animals within a millefleurs ground but with central armorial is illustrated in A. Gray Bennett, Five Centuries of Tapestry, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 1992, cat. 19, pp. 86 - 87. Another tapestry with apparently similar repetitive ground and with a dromedary and unicorn as well as borders indicative of Bruges is illustrated in J. Boccara, Ames de Laine et de Soie, Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988, p. 81, but it lacks the horizon, while another with unicorn, stag and foxes and also lacking the horizon is illustrated in P. Bertrand, Millefleurs, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2000, p. 13. Similar tapestries with more loosely cast flowers to the background include one at the Rijksmuseum (E. Hartkamp-Jonxis and H. Smit, European Tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2004, cat. 20, pp. 74 - 75), where the authors suggest that differing weaving centres cannot be discounted, and one at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (C. Adelson, European Tapestry in The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1994, cat. 9, pp. 105 - 115). A very similar millefleurs tapestry with horizon and central armorial device was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 11 November 2004, lot 15.
The millefleurs design in tapestries evolved in circa 1450 -1460, one of the first fully developed examples to survive being the Armorial Tapestry of Philippe Le Bon of Burgundy woven in Brussels in circa 1466 (A. Rapp Buri and M. Stucky Schürer, Burgundische Tapisserien im Historischen Museum Bern, Munich, 2001, pp. 116 - 117). This genre of tapestry, however, remained popular until the mid-16th century. The wide variations in quality, the relative short period in which they were produced and the number of pieces known, indicate that numerous workshops made this type of tapestries. The vast majority of these ateliers are believed to have been in the Southern Netherlands. Millefleurs tapestries have frequently been ascribed symbolic values since in medieval times certain flowers and most animals had certain meanings. However, most will probably simply have been woven for decorative and utilitarian purposes.
ATTRIBUTION
The denseness and colouring of the flowers in this tapestry has most recently led to an attribution of this type of millefleurs to Bruges. A pair of tapestries with an elaborate central cartouche depicting The Story of Abraham, but on a similar ground, bears the town mark of Bruges on the outer slip (G. Delmarcel and E. Duverger, Bruges et la Tapisserie, exhibition catalogue, Bruges, 1987, pp. 188 - 189, figs. 3/8 and 3/9). A further tapestry with a central armorial device and set on a very similar millefleurs ground with numerous animals, that was offered at Galerie Koller in Zurich in 1971 was consequently tentatively attributed to Bruges by the authors (Delmarcel and Duverger, op. cit., p. 38, fig. 18).
COMPARABLE EXAMPLES
Several related tapestries survive. A tapestry with similar horizon and animals within a millefleurs ground but with central armorial is illustrated in A. Gray Bennett, Five Centuries of Tapestry, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, 1992, cat. 19, pp. 86 - 87. Another tapestry with apparently similar repetitive ground and with a dromedary and unicorn as well as borders indicative of Bruges is illustrated in J. Boccara, Ames de Laine et de Soie, Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988, p. 81, but it lacks the horizon, while another with unicorn, stag and foxes and also lacking the horizon is illustrated in P. Bertrand, Millefleurs, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 2000, p. 13. Similar tapestries with more loosely cast flowers to the background include one at the Rijksmuseum (E. Hartkamp-Jonxis and H. Smit, European Tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2004, cat. 20, pp. 74 - 75), where the authors suggest that differing weaving centres cannot be discounted, and one at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (C. Adelson, European Tapestry in The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 1994, cat. 9, pp. 105 - 115). A very similar millefleurs tapestry with horizon and central armorial device was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 11 November 2004, lot 15.