A TAPESTRY, "Orphée jouant pour les Animaux", the Northern Netherlands first half of the 17th century - around the
middle of the 17th century, ca 246,5 x 194 cm. A so called cartouche mantelpiece tapestry. Tapestry weave. The motives in two parts. The upper part in terracotta has a rich polychrome decor with two cornucopia, fruits and flowers as well as a border with flowers and fruits and in the corners cartouches with a maskaron. The lower part has a grand cartouche with Orpheus playing for the animals. Wool and silk. Lined.
A closely related cartouche tapestry, of same subject and design, attributed to a Delft workshop and dated 1620-1640, is nowadays in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum (inv. BK-NM-1999).
Some wear, slightly dirty, stains, minor damages and restorations, insignificant holes. The tapestry was restored and lined at the Royal Armoury, Stockholm, in the 1970'ies.
Provenance
The Excellency Fredrik von Essen, Strandvägen in Stockholm, around 1900; The Baron Carl von Essen, Stockholm; The Baron Magnus Carlsson von Essen, Kaflås castle.
Exhibitions
The Nationalmuseum, Stockholm: Holländska utställningen, January-March 1959; Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen, October-November 1969; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, November-January 1971-1972.
Literature
Böttiger, John: Tapisseries à Figures des XVIe et XVIIe siècles appartenant á des collections privées de la Suède, Stockholm 1928, plate 38 i planschverket, text No. 39, page 51 i textverket; Slott och herresäten i Sverige, Västergötland I, Malmö 1968, plates pages 213 and 219, text page 224; Possibly also in the books A history of Tapestry from 1973 and Tapestries in Scandinavia from the same year; Compare with Franses: Dutch Tapestry in the Golden Age 1590-1650 - Baroque Masterpieces from the Northern Netherlands, London 2007, plates and text pp. 17, 44-50; Hartkamp-Jonxis, E. & Smith, H.: European tapestries in the Rijksmuseum, 2004, cat. No. 60, pp. 236-238.