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Lot Essay
Depicting a romantic feast in a pastoral idyll enlivened by bawdy rustics, this tapestry of bold design and vivid colouring reflects the lavish artistry and lewd humour of the early 17th century.
The tapestry, titled Le repas (‘The Picnic’), is the fifth of eight in the celebrated series Les Amours de Gombault et Macée and dates from the early 17th century. Attributed to the Bruges workshops due to the presence of the city’s mark of a weaver’s shuttle on several tapestries, the series narrates the milestones and erotic awakening of shepherds and shepherdesses as they progress through life, each scene narrated by ribald inscriptions written in old French. The narrative has long been thought to be based on the ‘Dicts moraux pour mettre en tapisserie’ by 15th century French poet Henri Baude. Tapestries on the theme of Gombault and Macée appear in French inventories as early as 1532 and the French origin of the tale is evident in the written inscriptions. The surviving examples indicate a date for this and other tapestries in the series around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The skilful depiction of foliage and animals in the fore and background recalls the verdure tapestries in whose production the Bruges workshops particularly excelled.
This tapestry depicts Gombault, Macée and others at a prenuptial picnic and abounds with symbols of rural life. Partridges, turkeys, lambs, goats and the hunt are some of the pastoral clichés depicted; the large stone house next to a wooden mill and the well-dressed huntsmen on the fringe of the feasting villagers indicate that the subject addresses both the nobility and the peasantry. Indeed the text in the upper right declares that the feast of brown bread, water and strawberries is more to the taste of ‘shepherds and shepherdesses’ than ‘ladies and gentlemen’. The inscription to the left of the embracing couple declares ‘Alison, c’est plaisant butin/ que tenir ton ferme tetin/ et baiser ta bouche vermeille’ (‘Alison, it is a pleasant steal/ to hold your firm nipple/ and kiss your ruby mouth’). In the foreground, a falcon, a symbol of the nobility, pounces on a heron, an allegory for the pursuit of love. While it is typical of the period to associate explicitly coarse humour with simple countryfolk, the symbolism of the scene makes clear that this tale of sexual awakening applies to all, not least the necessarily wealthy clientele who patronised the Bruges workshops.
The popularity of this subject in the early 1600s is reflected by the existence of a series of prints illustrating the story of Gombault and Macée by Jean Leclerc as well as the commissioning of cartoons from Laurent Guyot by the Parisian tapestry workshops and the mention of such tapestries in the collection of the finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683). Two related tapestries with the Bruges city mark are preserved alongside others of the series in the Musée d'art et d'histoire de Saint-Lô (inv. 1840.02.005, 1840.02.006) in Normandy. With some minor variation in colour and specific features of the figures and details, the overall compositions are identical to the present tapestry. Another almost identical tapestry was sold Christie’s, London, 12 July 1984, lot 272.
The tapestry, titled Le repas (‘The Picnic’), is the fifth of eight in the celebrated series Les Amours de Gombault et Macée and dates from the early 17th century. Attributed to the Bruges workshops due to the presence of the city’s mark of a weaver’s shuttle on several tapestries, the series narrates the milestones and erotic awakening of shepherds and shepherdesses as they progress through life, each scene narrated by ribald inscriptions written in old French. The narrative has long been thought to be based on the ‘Dicts moraux pour mettre en tapisserie’ by 15th century French poet Henri Baude. Tapestries on the theme of Gombault and Macée appear in French inventories as early as 1532 and the French origin of the tale is evident in the written inscriptions. The surviving examples indicate a date for this and other tapestries in the series around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. The skilful depiction of foliage and animals in the fore and background recalls the verdure tapestries in whose production the Bruges workshops particularly excelled.
This tapestry depicts Gombault, Macée and others at a prenuptial picnic and abounds with symbols of rural life. Partridges, turkeys, lambs, goats and the hunt are some of the pastoral clichés depicted; the large stone house next to a wooden mill and the well-dressed huntsmen on the fringe of the feasting villagers indicate that the subject addresses both the nobility and the peasantry. Indeed the text in the upper right declares that the feast of brown bread, water and strawberries is more to the taste of ‘shepherds and shepherdesses’ than ‘ladies and gentlemen’. The inscription to the left of the embracing couple declares ‘Alison, c’est plaisant butin/ que tenir ton ferme tetin/ et baiser ta bouche vermeille’ (‘Alison, it is a pleasant steal/ to hold your firm nipple/ and kiss your ruby mouth’). In the foreground, a falcon, a symbol of the nobility, pounces on a heron, an allegory for the pursuit of love. While it is typical of the period to associate explicitly coarse humour with simple countryfolk, the symbolism of the scene makes clear that this tale of sexual awakening applies to all, not least the necessarily wealthy clientele who patronised the Bruges workshops.
The popularity of this subject in the early 1600s is reflected by the existence of a series of prints illustrating the story of Gombault and Macée by Jean Leclerc as well as the commissioning of cartoons from Laurent Guyot by the Parisian tapestry workshops and the mention of such tapestries in the collection of the finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683). Two related tapestries with the Bruges city mark are preserved alongside others of the series in the Musée d'art et d'histoire de Saint-Lô (inv. 1840.02.005, 1840.02.006) in Normandy. With some minor variation in colour and specific features of the figures and details, the overall compositions are identical to the present tapestry. Another almost identical tapestry was sold Christie’s, London, 12 July 1984, lot 272.