ANTIQUE TAPESTRIES AND NEEDLEWORK PICTURES
ANTIQUE TAPESTRIES AND NEEDLEWORK PICTURES
A GOOD POST-MORTLAKE MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY from Ovid’s Metamorphoses of Pygmalion sculpting the image of a maiden, observed by Minerva, beyond holding a naming torch as a symbol of his love he implores Venus to bring the statue to life, baroque buildings in the distance and a fountain in a grove to the right, narrow bead and reel border, 7ft. 3in. high by 17ft. wide (202.5cm. by 518.2cm.) early 18th Century, possibly Antwerp for the English market
English Tapestries of the 18th Century, p. 87, calls this composition Pygmalion and Galatea but the maiden is un-named in Smith’s Classical Dictionary. The present tapestry like the Cathleen panel is in reverse to the composition as described by Marilee
THE ERLEIGH COURT ‘CHINOISERIES’ TAPESTRIES
2AN IMPORTANT ENGLISH SOHO ‘CHINOISERIES’ TAPESTRY by Joshua Morris, woven with Chinese figures in various pursuits on scattered islands, two men in a boat ferrying porcelain vases and in the left foreground a boy chased by a lion, to the right a Chinese temple with a priest coming down the steps, almost black background, the three-sided border (left border missing) woven with carnations, tulips and other flowers, strap work and blue acanthus clasps on a pale blue ground, the corners with scallop shells, 7ft. 6in. high by 15ft. wide (230cm. by 455cm.) signed I. Morris, F., circa 1720
Provenance: by descent from the 1st Viscount Sid mouth whose second wife was the granddaughter of John Bengal of Eloign Court, near Reading. See E. W. Dormer, Eloign Court and its Owners, Reading, 1912.
ANOTHER ‘CHINOISERIES’ TAPESTRY by Joshua Morris from the same set, a mandarin holding court in an island pavilion, reading a petition, the foreground with travelers on horseback, the background with Chinese figures on islands including two merchants bargaining and eel catchers, in a four-sided border as before, 7ft. 6in. high by 13ft. wide (230cm. by 396cm.) signed My circa 1720, cut and joined down the right hand side.
A THIRD ‘CHINOISERIES’ TAPESTRY from the same set, in the foreground a mandarin with attendants and massive porcelain vases, beyond a mother and baby outside a summer house, the background with various figures on scattered islands including a child feeding Chinese geese, four-sided border as before, 7ft. 6in. high by 10ft. wide (230cm. by 306cm.) circa 1720, cut and joined down the right hand side.
VARIOUS ‘CHINOISERIES’ FRAGMENTS from the foregoing set, including three joined background pieces with a two-sided corner border, 25in. by 35′/2in. (64cm. by 90cm.); two border strips, 26in. and by 23in.; a corner fragment, 28′Mn. square (72cm.); and another fragment with attached border strip, (72cm. by 57cm.) circa 1720.
NEEDLEWORK PICTURES
A RARE ENGLISH CREWEL-WORK PANEL worked in red on white linen with biblical subjects, the centre with Adam and Eve and the serpent under the Tree of Knowledge, surrounded by other subjects including Daniel in the Lions’ Den, the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Adoration of the Shepherds, Suzanna and the Elders and Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, the corners each with a coat of arms, the field strewn with animals, insects, birds and trees and the border with alternate animals and trees, 4ft. 4in. by 4ft. 2in. (132cm. by 127cm.) circa 1600, slightly damaged.
The bottom two coats of arms are of the City of London (on the left), and the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylor’s.
A GOOD CHARLES I TENT STITCH PICTURE of the Judgment of Paris, the scene set in a hillocky landscape with Paris seated on the right offering the apple to Venus who \ stands with an attendant Cupid and the two other Goddesses Juno and Minerva, in shades of red, blue, green, buff and yellow, 142in. by 19in. (37cm. by 48cm.) circa 1640.
A CHARLES I TENT STITCH PICTURE of Eliza and Rebecca the latter standing by a fountain on the left and giving Eliza water from a pitcher while his camel rests on the right in a hillocky landscape, chiefly in pink, blue and white, by (19cm. by 24cm.) circa 1640.
A CHARLES II BEADWORK PICTURE of a lady and a gentleman with an attendant standing before a building surrounded by animals, insects, and flowers, the foreground with the initials H.F. by a pond, in shades of blue, green and yellow, Ump. by 16in. (29cm. by 40.5cm.)circa 1660, background restored.
A FINE CHARLES II SILK TENT STITCH PICTURE of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, of fresh colorings, the couple shown informally standing in a garden, Whiny, by Whine. (32cm. by 42cm.) circa 1660.
A GOOD CHARLES II SILK PICTURE, with three female figures, possibly representing Catherine of Braganza, the Duchess of Portsmouth and another, dressed in contemporary costume as goddesses, in shades of blue and red and with a pair of cherubs flying above, in an oval with leaf spandrels (29cm. by 34cm.) circa 1670.
A CHARLES II TENT STITCH PICTURE possibly depicting Elyse and Rebecca at the well and treated in contemporary costume, the centre with the girl drawing a bucket from the well while a man stands before her, set in a hillocky landscape with houses in the distance, in shades of blue, green, yellow and red, by 14in. (25cm. by 35.5cm.) circa 1660.
AN ATTRACTIVE NEEDLEWORK PANEL worked in silk tent stitch with a variety of animals from a bestiary including an elephant and a unicorn and a gryphon, surrounded by flowers in green, red, blue and white, all on a silver thread ground, 92tn. high by 3ft. 72in. wide (55cm. by 11 lcm.) circa 1620.
A CHARLES II SILK-EMBROIDERED PANEL probably from a toilet casket showing Hagar and Ishmael being sent into the Wilderness by Abraham, with an upper border of insects and flowers, in shades of blue and buff on an ivory satin ground, (14cm. by 26cm.).
A PAIR OF GEORGE I “TURQUESERIE” SILK PICTURES, each worked in freshly colored silk with a turn with a plumed turban, rose pantaloons and green coat and his wife in pink and green elaborate dress, standing by flowering trees (26cm. by 23cm.) circa 1720, background slightly discolored.
A VERY RARE QUEEN ANNE CHINOISERIE EMBROIDERED PANEL, the Chinese ivory ask ground woven with peony and embroidered with an elaborate scene of figures buildings in freshly colored wine, yellow, blue and green silk and silver thread tin a floral border, 9ft. 6in. by 8ft. 3in. (290cm. by 251cm.)
The central design appears to be based on a contemporary coriander screen.
A GOOD BORDER-BAND SAMPLER of bright coloring with four bands of silk-embroidered flowers worked in a variety of stitches divided by seven lines of words and with an elaborate, partly padded floral panel below in bright shades of cerise, blue, green and lemon, 15in. by (38cm. by 19cm.) late 17th Century.
A COMMONWEALTH BORDER-BAND SAMPLER dated 1652, with numerous horizontal floral bands in green, blue, buff and cerise above an alphabet, the date and the initials L.P., 19in. by 73Ain. (48cm. by 19.5cm.).
A COMMONWEALTH BORDER-BAND SAMPLER with horizontal bands in a variety of stitches, in light blue, leaf green and pale brown and with an alphabet below, 224in. by 63in. (56.5cm. by 17cm.) mid 17th Century.
ANOTHER, half filled with horizontal colored bands in the same colors as the preceding lot, one with three cherubs divided by fleur-de-lye, the lower part entirely in white stitches with horizontal bands below an alphabet and the initials A.P., Win. by 7in. (48cm. by 18cm.) mid 17th Century.
Donald King, Samplers (H.M.S.O. 1960) illustrates as plate 9 a sampler dated 1633 with some very similar bands of embroidery and, as plate 11, another also with a band of cherubs.
A GEORGE II SAMPLER by Elizabeth Smith 1757, with numbers, alphabets and a pair of peacocks, in cherry red and green by 9 in. (28cm. by 23.5cm.).