Christie’s roundel
Lot 285

A FLEMISH MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY

BRUSSELS, BY URBAN AND DANIEL IV LEYNIERS, CIRCA 1729-1745, AFTER DESIGNS BY JAN VAN ORLEY AND AUGUSTIN COPPENS

Closed5 November 2009

Price Realised

GBP 21,250

More Information

How to sell

A FLEMISH MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY
BRUSSELS, BY URBAN AND DANIEL IV LEYNIERS, CIRCA 1729-1745, AFTER DESIGNS BY JAN VAN ORLEY AND AUGUSTIN COPPENS
Woven in silks and wools, depicting 'The Triumph of Neptune', with Psyche being directed across the sea, nymphs and figures emblematic of wind in attendance, in a rocky landscape, within a simulated picture frame border with ribbon-twist and entrelac, the angles with foliate-wrapped cabochons, the lower right of field with weaver's mark 'V.L.D.L.', slightly reduced in height
12 ft. 10 in. x 7 ft. 10 in. (390 cm. x 238 cm.)

Christie's, London, 9 December 1993, lot 379.

Specialist note

This tapestry belongs to a series of The Triumphs of the Gods which was designed by Jan van Orley (d. 1735) and Aurel Augustin Coppens (d. 1740) who supplied the backgrounds, in circa 1716. The first set was completed by 1717 for the town hall in Ghent. There are thirteen different main subjects known of the series, but panels can vary widely in design as they seem to have been adapted over the forty years of production. (D. Heinz, Europische Tapisseriekunst des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, 1995, pp. 218-219 and p. 232, and K. Brosens, A Contextual Study of Brussels Tapestry, 1670 - 1770, Brussels, 2004, cat. 8, pp. 152 - 159)

A set from this series, comprising six panels and including an identical panel to lot 228 of this sale, was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 14 November 1985, lots 227-232, while a pair of panels depicting The Triumph of Venus and The Triumph of Jupiter were sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 1 October 1998, lots 229 and 230, respectively.