Stephan Welz & Co
Lot 457
A FRANCO-FLEMISH VERDU TAPESTRY, BRUXELLES, 16TH CENTURY woven wool, organic pigments, depicting a bear hunt in a verdant landscape surrounding a château and moat populated by hunters, huntresses and dogs in the foreground within a four-sided classical border of scrolling flower arrangements, summer fruits and foliage offset by four graceful figures to each corner,splits, foreground repairs, relined with Belgian linen, later blue border, restorations, cleaned and lined in Paris in 1987 by M. Kechichain, Quai de la Seine, Paris332 by 245cmTapestries, the fine embodiment of history and art, coalesced in Europe in the great weaving centres of Italy, France and the Netherlands, over a thousand years ago. Before the Royal houses of Europe ordered sumptuous and labour intensive heraldic tapestries in the medieval period, smaller and simpler ones were commissioned by ordinary households for the purpose of warmth and decoration. It is however the grand and regal tapestries that have survived over time - many housed in museums, and royal residences - that are now sought after by collectors. Not since the January 1997 sale of a 17th century Brussels tapestry depicting Ulysees and Circe from the estate of the Baroness Grace Confaloneri , has Stephan Welz and Co in Cape Town been in a position to offer two superb examples of early Flemish tapestry. The weaving centres of Bruxelles and Enghien in Flanders (Belgium) reached their height in the XVIth century. The tapestries in lots 457 and 458 produced by these centres, are made entirely by hand of gathered, spun and organically dyed wool. Designs were specially created by “tapestry painters” who created novel designs to be placed under the warp of the loom for the weavers to bring to life. As well as scenes of courtly life, themes of classical mythology and the bible were used as central panels framed by borders of decorative foliage, fruit, flowers and figures set in architectural niches. It is interesting to note that there is a renewed interest in Flemish tapestries, particularly when juxtaposed with clean, contemporary interiors like those of acclaimed Belgian decorator Axel Verwoordt.- Carol Kaufmann
