A DAMASK LINEN HISTORICAL NAPKIN DEPICTING THE CAPTURE OF LILLE

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VARIOUS PROPERTIES 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY DAMASK LINEN (LOTS 106-113) The art of damask linen weaving was practised in Courtrais from the late 15th century and developed into a booming business for Courtrais during the middle of the 16th century. As a result of the religeous persecution in the Spanish Netherlands under the Duke of Alva many craftsmen fled to the Republic. Amongst the protestant refugees was the linenweaver Passchier Lammertijn, who settled and continued his trade in Haarlem. The early linens from Haarlem are very similar to those of Courtrai because the craftsmen copied pattern samples taken with them from Courtrai. The designs fall into different categories: Biblical, Mythological, Historical, Hunting, Cities, Armorial, and Flora and Fauna. During the early 18th century the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) was a great source of inspiration to the weavers of Courtrais, an example of such a tablecloth is lot 106 depicting the capture of Lille, 1708. The domination of Courtrai as a linenweaving centre lasted until the middle of the 18th century. In the second half of the 18th century competition grew from new linenweaving centres in Saxony, Silesia, Lisburn, Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Stockholm.

A DAMASK LINEN HISTORICAL NAPKIN DEPICTING THE CAPTURE OF LILLE

COURTRAI, CIRCA 1708-1709

Details

A DAMASK LINEN HISTORICAL NAPKIN DEPICTING THE CAPTURE OF LILLE
COURTRAI, CIRCA 1708-1709
Woven with scenes of the capture of Lille by Prince Eugene of Savoye in charge of the allied forces, on 22 October 1708, in the border the inscription PRINCE EUGENE PREND XXII OBRE 1708 LA BATTAILE D HEINE, embroidered with initials AG
108 x 84 cm.

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Lot Essay

Franz Eugen, Prinz Von Savoyen-Carignan field marshal and statesman of the Carignan line of the House of Savoy, who, in the service of the Austrian Holy Roman emperor, made his name as one of the greatest soldiers of his generation. He fought notably against the Turks in central Europe and the Balkans (1683-1688, 1697, 1715-1718) and against France in the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-1697) and in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). He was the teacher of Frederick the Great and the only one among the seven great strategists of all time whose campaigns Napoleon considered worthy of study by posterity.

Several versions of the capture of Lille were woven, and are illustrated in A.G. Pauwels, Damast, Kortrijk, 1986 - Bestandscatalogus Museum voor Oudheidkunde en Sierkunst in Kortrijk, Nr. 119-125.

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