Provenance

Brocket Hall

A rare set of three Charles X Aubusson carpets, French, circa 1825.

Provenance: The Estate of the first Lord Brocket, Brocket Hall, Welwyn, Hertfordshire.

The architect for Brocket Hall, James Paine, left this rare masterpiece, The Ballroom or Saloon which furnished by the flamboyant first Lord Melbourne to entertain royalty and was one of the most important rooms in England, having the finest collections of Thomas Chippendale furniture in the country, adorned with ceiling paintings by Sir Francis Wheatley, the ballroom cost half the price of the whole house when it was built in 1760. The Prime Minister's dining table is said to be the second oldest and longest in England, the first being at Windsor Castle. This table will seat a maximum of 54 guests. It was in this very room that Lady Caroline Lamb introduced the Waltz to England. The Prince Regent, later King George IV had a bedroom especially for him and Queen Victoria was a regular visitor.

In 1665, Colbert, founder of the Royal Manufactories of the Gobelins and the Savonnerie, granted the official charter to the Aubusson workshops and had the overall title of 'Royal Manufactory' extended to them. At this time only tapestries were being made there. When Aubusson started to make carpets in 1743, the first production was in the oriental style, 'tapis turc or persane'. With the demand at the Savonnerie factory exceeding supply new designs were sent to Aubusson in the French style. Louis XV sent Pierre-Josse Perrot (active 1724-1750), the designer of the Savonnerie carpets supplied to the Great Hall of the Louvre, together with three carpets in the French style, to give new designs. Many commissions followed and carpets were supplied to: the Chateau de Versailles, Chateau de Choisy and Madame de Pompadour.

The rare set of three Aubussons were designed and placed so that their medallions would reflect those of the Ballroom's ceiling. With the large size of the room, the design has been enlarged to keep in balance with the scale of the room and in proportion. The light brown field covered with bold scrolling acanthus issuing rosettes and linked by large acanthus leaf vases having a floral arrangement, with a delicate floral wreath enclosing an ivory medallion containing a floral bouquet centerpiece.

Luton Hoo

A fine Hadji Jalili Tabriz carpet, Persia, circa 1890.

Provenance: Sir Julius Wernher, Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire.

The present house was built for the 3rd Earl of Bute by the neoclassical architect Robert Adam. Luton Hoo was one of the largest houses for which Adam was wholly responsible. While Adam was working on the mansion the landscape gardener Capability Brown was enlarging and redesigning the park. In 1903 the house was bought by Sir Julius Wernher, who had made his fortune from the diamond mines of South Africa.

Wernher had the interior remodelled in the early 20th century by the architects of the Ritz Hotel, Charles Mewes and Arthur Davis. The house contained an extensive collection of jewellery, paintings, porcelain, and objets d'art together with medieval ivory and jewelry from Spain, rare tapestries and canvases by Rubens, Titian, Hals and Fillipino Lippi. There was a Russian collection of court costumes and exquisite Faberge eggs, plus mementoes of the Russian royal family.

The present carpet, a Persian Tabriz, comes from the most prominent workshop supervised by Hadji Jalili, whose classical designs were applied with light colours of subtle tones, mostly of browns/tans with the white/light blue examples are considered the rarest. An unusual detail is in the application of the same colour for the ground and border, also the small size is exceptionally rare for this type of carpet and having a full background floral design.

Arundel Castle

A fine Aubusson carpet, French, circa 1890.

Provenance: The Earl and Countess of Arundel, Arundel Castle, West Sussex.

There are nearly 1,000 years of history at this great castle, situated in magnificent grounds overlooking the River Arun in West Sussex and built at the end of the 11th century by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel. Today the castle remains the principal seat of the Dukes of Norfolk, the dukedom currently being held by the 18th Duke, the Earl Marshal of England, having one of the great private collections of furniture, tapestries and paintings, including works by van Dyck, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Mytens and Lely.

The last years of the 19th century saw lighter pastel colours becoming fashionable. This Aubusson carpet is a fine example from that period, still retaining definition in the colours of celadon green and ivory with touches of rose. The drawing of the design is particularly fine with delicate floral details.

Stokesay Court

An important Agra carpet, India, circa 1890.

Provenance: The late John Derby-Allcroft, Stokesay Court, Shropshire.

Stokesay Court is a magnificent late-Victorian mansion set within extensive grounds in the rolling green countryside of South Shropshire. It was built for John Derby Allcroft, a wealthy manufacturer, entrepreneur and philanthropist, who had made a fortune in the glove making business. Designed by modernist architect Thomas Harris, the house was at the cutting edge of technology when it was completed in 1892, just six months before John Allcroft's death. Equipped with a large boiler and under-floor heating, the house was one of the first private homes in England to have integral electric light, powered by large lead batteries.

The present Agra carpet was one of six commissioned for the house, all of similar colour and design though varying in format, this being the largest. With the expansion of the British Empire and the subsequent increase in the demand for exotic goods from the new territories, the British Raj was able to supervise and control productions of carpets in India. Agra became the main centre where the jail was noted for the fine carpets woven by the inmates, though other workshops also existed. Agra carpets, having a robust and sturdy weave which make them more formal in appearance, would be placed in the more important rooms as for the state rooms and gentleman's libraries (particularly suited to match the mahogany wood). Grand carpets of this stature are considered more as furniture rather than a carpet and would reflect the power of the Establishment.

Raine, Countess Spencer

A rare Polonaise Tabriz carpet, Persia, c1920s.

Signed with the Benlian workshop mark.

The late Raine, Dowager Countess Spencer, was perhaps best know for her marriage to Earl Spencer, father of Diana, Princess of Wales. The countess, the daughter of the noted novelist and socialite Barbara Cartland was known throughout her life at different times as- Raine McCorquodale, the Honourable Mrs Gerald Legge, Viscountess Lewisham, the Countess of Dartmouth, Countess Spencer, the Dowager Countess Spencer and Countess Jean-Franois de Chambrun.

The present carpet is based on a design from the Polonaise carpets of Isfahan, these were silk products with lavish use of gold and silver threads and were popular in Europe during the 17th century and complimented the furnishings of the palaces and great Baroque houses being built. The term Polonaise is after numerous examples were found in Poland, some commissioned with heraldic shields and thus mistakenly assumed to have been woven there.

In the first quarter of the 20th century, Edward Benlian, a merchant based in London, established a workshop to make exceptional carpets recreating classical Persian Safavid designs for the European market, the Polonaise design is one of his most satisfying and rare works with a harmonious balance of colour.

The Liner SS Antillies

An important Moderne Movement carpet, designed by Paule Leleu, French, circa 1950.

Provenance: Commissioned for the liner Paquebot Antilles.

Paule Leleu was taught design by her father, Jules Leleu (1883-1961), the artist designer and head of the family decoration business. She became an apprentice when her father contracted carpets from Ivan da Silva Bruhns and her early work shows the influence of Bruhns in colour, design and motifs. In 1937, after the contract had ended, Paule joined her father and designed all the firm’s carpets in her own style.

Her commissions ranged from palaces (Elysée Palace), to ocean liners (Atlantic, Normandy, Antilles, Pierre Loti) and there are examples in the Mobilier National, the Musée d’art Moderne in Paris and in numerous American museums.

The present carpet was commissioned for the Grand Salon of the liner Paquebot Antilles from the firm of Leleu who also supplied the furnishings and decoration. The original drawing of this carpet is in the Leleu archives and the carpet was exhibited in the exhibition of Paquebots de legende at the National Marine Museum, Paris, in 1992.

Castle Arolsen

A rare Antwerp Tapestry, circa 1690, from the workshop of the brothers Michael and Phillip Wauters, designed by Daniel Janssens (1636-1682), who was the master of the Guild of Painters in Antwerp.

Provenance: H.R.H. Prince Vittekind Waldek, Castle Arolsen, Waldek, Germany.

This large Baroque palace was built between 1713 and 1728 and designed by Julius Ludwig Rothweil, in Bad Arolsen, Hesse, Germany. It has served as the home of the Waldeck and Pyrmont families and was the birthplace of Queen consort Emma of the Netherlands.

The scene is that of Phaon, departing from the island of Lesbos and rejecting the love of Sappho, the greatest poetess of antiquity who was hugely admired and praised as the 'female Homer', she can be seen being consoled by young girls with whom she lives on the island in the pursuit of literature, music and poetry, hence the book on the table in the tapestry.

The tapestry, which is in remarkable condition and retaining its fresh original colours, was probably made for the English market, having the rare flower and fruit border, other examples have the more common cross-ribbon border, the Mortlake workshops copied these Antwerp tapestries a few years later. The tapestry comes from a series of mythological tapestries at the castle, of which Pygmalion is also in our possession.

Literature:
H.C. Marillier, English Tapestries of the 18th century, 1930, pp 79-91, plate 36b.
Wendy Hefford, (V & A), The Chicago Pygmalion and the English Metamorphosis, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, No 10, 1983.

Harwarden Castle

A palatial Ziegler Sultanabad carpet, Persian, late 19th century.

Provenance: William Ewart Gladstone, Hawarden Castle, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales.

Hawarden Castle, a designated Grade I listed building because of its architecture, especially the 18th century interiors and for its exceptional importance as the home of the former four times Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) (who had come into possession of Hawarden Castle in north Wales, through his wife's family, the Glynns when her brother, Sir Stephen Glynne, the 8th Baronet died childless.

The present carpet, of palatial size, is a product of how with imported goods come also their designs which influence styles in Europe at the time, both Zieglers’ and William Morris carpets are a reaction against the industrial three dimensional products, reverting back to honest workmanship, materials and flat two dimensional designs, in essence Pre-Raphalite. Ziegler carpets can be considered the Persian Arts and Crafts and as Morris stated regarding the Ardabil carpet... its size and splendour as a piece of workmanship do full justice to the beauty and intellectual qualities of the design, this can be applied to the present carpet having enlarged palmettes, sickle leaves and connecting stems, resting upon a rare deep coral background, also of note is the exceptionally beautiful border.

Easton Neston

The Conversation of Nymphs

An important Brussels mythological tapestry, Flemish, early 18th century. The workshop of Hendrik II Reydams, after designs by Johannes de Reyff.

Provenance: Lord Hesketh, Easton Neston, Towcester, Northamptonshire.

Easton Neston is a large grade I listed country house, built for William Fermor, 1st Baron Leominster (1648–1711), in the Baroque style to the design of the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor. From about 1700, after the completion of Easton Neston, Hawksmoor worked with Sir John Vanbrugh on many buildings, including Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. Prince Charles considers Easton Neston to be his favourite country house.

This tapestry comes from a set of four all having the presences of Jupiter and Mercury on each of them indicating that they are the main subject. In this particular piece Jupiter is smitten by one of the two flower crowned women and is sending Mercury, his messenger, to tell her of his love. The children frolicking with a goat and colourful flowers create a feeling of happiness and joy.

Hendrik II Reydams was active between 1699-1719 and being the one of the most important and principal tapissier in Brussels during the time, restored the reputation of the city as an important weaving centre. He had five looms in operation in 1703. According to the later inventory of the estate of Urbanus Leyniers in 1747, who had been Reydams’ partner, the models were supplied by the painter Johannes de Reyff and Augustin Coppens drew the landscapes. Few Jupiter set of tapestries were woven and the present tapestry is therefor especially rare, in the Reydam’s records of 1712-34, there is only one set of the Jupiter tapestries recorded. The present tapestry has the rare border of hanging lamps and blue colouring and is probably the first set woven around 1700.

Literature:
Koenraad Brosens, A Contextual Study of Brussels tapestry, dye works and tapestry workshop of Urban Leyniers. 2004, Cat no 3/8. Pages 137-139 and illustrated p428.
H.C.Candee. The Tapestry Book. 1912, p104.
H.Gobel. Tapestries of the Lowlands. 1924, p515, 554, 555.
G.L.Hunter. The Practical Book of Tapestries. 1925, p156.

H.R.H. The Prince George, Duke of Kent & H.R.H. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.

A rare pair of Pontremoli needlework carpets, English, circa 1934.

Worked with wool in petit point and gross point techniques with additional silk highlights. With monogram, GM, for The Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902-1942) and Princess Marina (1906-1968), Duchess of Kent. Signed: JMP.

The present carpets were woven in 1934 to commemorate the betrothal of Prince George, the youngest surviving son of King George V and Queen Mary, to Princess Marina of Greece, whose great grandfather was Tsar Alexander II of Russia, on the 29th November, 1934.

In 1910, Mr Pontremoli (1888-1952) established a workshop in Paddington, London, to make needlework carpets primarily based on designs by William S.Haines and other designs copied from the Victoria and Albert Museum by his girls. Pontremoli gained the attention and patronage of Queen Mary (the mother of Queen Elizabeth II) who herself did needlework and was an enthusiastic patron of the Royal School of Needlework. Queen Mary awarded Pontremoli a Royal Warrant and his needlepoint rugs are still to be found in the Royal Household, other patrons include: Her Majesty the Queen, H.R.H. The Duke of Kent and Mrs Roosevelt. His needlework carpets still remain in the Royal Household.

Literature:
F. Lewis, The Pontremoli Collection, The Hermitage publishers, 1942.
The Queen Magazine, in an article, Royal Carpets, April, 1938, illustrates the pair.

Glyn Cywarch

An important and extremely rare needlework screen

English, circa 1730

Provenance: Lord Harlech, Glyn Cywarch, Gwynedd.

Glyn Cywarch was built in 1616 and passed by marriage from the Wynn family to the Owens of Brogyntyn and thence descended to the family of Ormsby Gore, Barons Harlech. The 5th Baron was a politician and ambassador to the U.S.A and a close friend of the Kennedy family. After President Kennedy's assassination a romance developed between Ormsby-Gore and Jacqueline Kennedy eventually in 1968 he proposed marriage to her, but, she did not accept.[Ormsby-Gore was one of the pallbearers at Robert F. Kennedy's funeral.

Few English needlework screens from the 18th century survive, there is a similar screen with three panels near identical, though lacking the oriental figures as in the present screen, dated 1727 and worked on by Julia, Lady Calverley, at Wallington Hall, Northumberland, which is now a National Trust property. The design is after Franz Cleyn 1582-1658), who was employed by James I to work at the Mortlake Tapestry Works.
The present screen has additional oriental figures and an exotic mythological figure of a flying dragon of which a similar figure is in an unfinished embroidery from the same period, at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Another related screen is in the John Bryan collection at Crab Tree Farm, Chicago, USA, though the needlework has a somewhat overall murky browned colouring which could be due to a type of antique wash, not so desirable.

Literature:
Yvonne Hackenbroch, English & Other Needlework in the Irwin Untermyer Collection, Harvard University Press, 1960, plate 91.

Exhibited:
St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff.