Description

Reference number: 78J /D345

Origin: France-Beauvais

Period: End of 17th century

Provenance: Private Collection

Composition: Wool and silk

Dimension: H 275 x L 165

After Charles le Brun (1619-1690)Manufacture Royale de Beauvais.

The Suit of the Elements, in four large pieces and four between-windows, forms with The Seasons, of the same painter, the first tapestries woven especially for the manufacture of Gobelins.

The hanging was woven six times in eight pieces between 1666 and 1680.Two hangings in four pieces were woven between 1703 and 1719.The hanging was also woven in Aubusson but also at the Royal Manufacture of Beauvais under the direction of Behagle around 1690 (a hanging in the Palais Royal in Turin).Private orders could be made to the workshops of the Gobelins.Finally the workshops of Brussels have published copies of this hanging. The earthOn a chariot, in front of which are lying a lion and a bear, the goddesses Cybele and Ceres support a shield with the king's number.On the right or left side, according to a weaving in high or low heddle, a camel, a dog and a deer, agricultural instruments, flowers and fruits.Elements evoking the earth and its fruits.The tapestry represents this part of the original composition. The camel, a terrestrial and exotic animal, is in the foreground. A border of foliage with fleurs-de-lis in the corners frames the tapestry.BibliographyMaurice Fenaille, Etat Général des Tapisseries de la Manufacture des Gobelins, Tome II, 1903, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale. (Jean Vittet, Arnaud Brejon de Lavergnée, La Collection de Tapisserie de Louis XIV, Edition Faton, 2010.

Our house ensures you the sale of a tapestry with invoice and approved expertise, well cleaned, in good condition with its fixing system. Should this be necessary, we will specify the work that has been done. All our tapestries can be presented to your home in France and bordering countries before your final decision.