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.
Alkuperä - Provenienssi
The Excellency Fredrik von Essen, Strandvägen in Stockholm, around 1900; The Baron Carl von Essen, Stockholm; The Baron Magnus Carlsson von Essen, Kaflås castle.
Näyttelyt
The Nationalmuseum, Stockholm: Holländska utställningen, January-March 1959; Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen, October-November 1969; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, November-January 1971-1972.
Kirjallisuus
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.