*A ROYAL GOBELINS TAPESTRY

This important tapestry from the 'Loves of the Gods' series was comissioned by Louis XVI and woven at the Gobelins manufactory between 1781-1783. The series was woven under the direction of Jacques Neilson, who headed the basse-lisse workshop at Gobelins from 1750-1788. The designs for the central medallions depicting allegories of the elements are after cartoons by François Boucher (1703-1770), and the alentours are after designs by Maurice Jacques (1712-1784) and Louis Tessier (1719/20-1781).

Eight tapestries with the "third type" of border were commissioned by by Louis XVI in 1775-1776. Four were given by Louis XVI to the Grand Duke Paul Petrovitch (later Czar Paul I) and the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna of Russia during their voyage to France in 1782. They remained in Pavlovsk Palace until circa 1925 when they were sold by the Soviet government, and are now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu. The remaining four tapestries, including the present lot, were originally intended for the compte d'Adhémar, ambassador to London, but were instead given to Prince Heinrich of Prussia in October 1784.

Prince Heinrich, a francophile and patron of the arts, was sent as an emmisary by his brother. He traveled to France via Geneva and Montbelliard using the name compte d'Oels. As the invitation from the King of France was granted at the last moment, there was some urgency to prepare a state gift, which may explain the presentation of the tapestries reserved for the comte d'Adhémar.

The tapestries were listed in the state inventory as follows:
"donnés à M. le comte d'Oels par le Roy...figuraient: -Venus sur les eaux, Cephale et Aurore... 5 a. 7
-Neptune et Amymone...4 a. 6
-Une pièce à médaillon d'enfant..2 a. 1
-Une autre pièce à médaillon d'enfant...2 a. 2
Cours......14 a.
Hauteur....3 a. 2
En carré...43 a.12
au prix de 278 l'aune carré, fait 12162.1.7" (Fenaille, op.cit).

According to a Berlin guide from 1786 which describes Prince Heinrich's Palace on the Unter den Linden (now Humboldt University),
"in the bedchamber of the Prince, there was a tapestry {suite} given by the King of France with a background that resembles crimson damask. The tapestry depicts gods with their attributes. The gods are represented within oval frames that recall paintings." (F. Nicolai, Beschreibung der königlichen Residenzstädte - Berlin und Potsdam, Berlin, 1786).

In addition to the four tapestries from the 'Loves of the Gods' series, the King presented Prince Heinrich with six tapestries from the Don Quixote series now in the Charlottenbourg Palace, Berlin; a tapestry portrait of Henry IV par Cozette now at Doorn Palace in Holland; a tapestry portrait of Louis XVI by Duplessis, also woven at Gobelins and now at the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore; as well as four portières des Dieux, ceramic vases, a Sèvres porcelain desert service, and numereous Savonnerie carpets.

It is not known when the 'Loves of the Gods' tapestries left the royal collection of Prussia. The first two (including the present lot) were listed in the sale from the collection of Jules Porgès, the celebrated diamond merchant who formed an important collection of furniture and works of art for his Paris mansion, and for his château de Rochefort in Yvelines at the end of the 19th century. The second two tapestries are now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Standen, op.cit).

Pre-Lot Text

THE PROPERTY OF THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM
ONE OF FOUR TAPESTRIES GIVEN BY LOUIS XVI IN 1784 TO PRINCE HEINRICH OF PRUSSIA

Post Lot Text

*This lot may be exempt from sales tax, as set forth in the Sales Tax Notice at the front of the catalogue.