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Lot Essay
HISTORY OF THE SET
This magnificent Don Quixote tapestry, depicting 'The False Princess of Micomicon' was woven in the Gobelins atelier of Pierre-François Cozette. It was woven as part of the fifth weaving of the subject, which commenced in 1749 and originally encompassed only four panels for the chambre du Roi and two for the chambre du Conseil at Marly. Subsequently the set was extended by a further 24 panels of which a total of 12 panels were supplied to the Garde Meuble in 1758 while eight were given as presents by Louis XV and four remained in the warehouse of the workshop until the Revolution. The 12 Garde Meuble Tapestries, including the offered lot were also sent to the château de Marly in 1758 inventoried as 'Royal set 225'. The offered lot is recorded in storage at Marly in 1789. By 1900 six tapestries from the Marly set, including the offered lot, plus Dorothée from the group of four panels that remained at workshop, are recorded as having been given to the Impératrice Eugénie (d. 1920), wife of Napoleon III (M. Fenaille, Etat Général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, Paris, 1904, vol. III, pp. 206-217). When Na...
This magnificent Don Quixote tapestry, depicting 'The False Princess of Micomicon' was woven in the Gobelins atelier of Pierre-François Cozette. It was woven as part of the fifth weaving of the subject, which commenced in 1749 and originally encompassed only four panels for the chambre du Roi and two for the chambre du Conseil at Marly. Subsequently the set was extended by a further 24 panels of which a total of 12 panels were supplied to the Garde Meuble in 1758 while eight were given as presents by Louis XV and four remained in the warehouse of the workshop until the Revolution. The 12 Garde Meuble Tapestries, including the offered lot were also sent to the château de Marly in 1758 inventoried as 'Royal set 225'. The offered lot is recorded in storage at Marly in 1789. By 1900 six tapestries from the Marly set, including the offered lot, plus Dorothée from the group of four panels that remained at workshop, are recorded as having been given to the Impératrice Eugénie (d. 1920), wife of Napoleon III (M. Fenaille, Etat Général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, Paris, 1904, vol. III, pp. 206-217). When Na...