Suite of two panels or slopes* of petit point embroidery on - Lot 307

Suite of two panels or slopes* of petit point embroidery on linen canvas, France, circa 1570-1610, late 16th-early 17th century. H. 0.41 m - W. 1.71 m H. 0.40 m - W. 1.99 m These two panels depict court scenes with rich costumes adorned with jewels, strawberries and vertugadins, against a background of bucolic scenes and gardens with pergolas. A sovereign is surrounded by his court. These panels can certainly be compared with the "Scènes historiques" in the Musée national de la Renaissance in Ecouen (E.Cl.22554). Certain similarities and attitudes of the figures can be found, and like the Ecouen panels, the iconography remains allegorical and unidentified. Embroidery from this period illustrates religious themes, figurations of biblical passages, moral allegories, or historical subjects from engravings circulating in Europe, such as Claude Paradin's Quadrins historiques de la Bible engraved by Bernard Salomon, and engravings by Antonio Tempesta and Abraham Bosse. Comparable embroideries are preserved at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Geneva: Les vertus liés au couple, La mise en garde contre une vie dissolue, L'Enseignement de la Foi also in the Duke of Buccleugh's collections. Daniel in the Lion's Den, and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York: Scenes from the childhood of Queen Elizabeth I, The Story of Tobias. Havard *: "this same name (slope) is given to strips of fabric of little height arranged horizontally and which hang" generally intended for a bed. ( Wool and silk, weaknesses, small lacks, restorations of use, old lining. Various stitches and embroidery in relief). See : Yvonne HackenbrocH. English and other neddlework tapestries & textiles: the collection of Irwin Untermeyer. Metropolitan Museum. 1960. Claude Lapaire. Three allegorical embroideries from the late 16th century. Musée d'Art et d'Histoire. Genava tome XXIII. 1975. P.147-152. M.J Mayorcas: English needlework carpets. Pl. 6 M.A.Privat Savigny. Quand les princesses d'Europe brodaient Broderie au petit point.1570-1610. Les Cahiers du musée National de la Renaissance N°2 , cat 7 p.86-91. Margaret Swain. Engravings and Needlework of the sixteenth Century. The Burlington Magazine May 1977p.343.