**Originally Listed At $400**

Europe, French - attributed to Aubusson, Oil on canvas tapestry cartoon, 18th to 19th century. A hand-painted French tapestry cartoon depicting a romantic scene featuring a young couple enjoying an afternoon in a garden, surrounded by blossoming flowers and stone architecture, painted in shades of pastel blue, pink, and green against a golden ground, all in a circular format. Clearly influenced by the sensibilities of esteemed Rococo artists such as Jean-Antoine Watteau, Francois Boucher, and Jean-Honore Fragonard, this composition connotes the sensuousness and frivolity of the wealthy aristocratic class during the period. Just imagine a tapestry created from this cartoon in a typical Rococo interior with elegant furniture, gilded mirrors, wall paintings, pastel painted walls with gold and silver reliefs, and sumptuous sculptures adding to the ambiance and exemplifying the synthesis of all the arts (Gesamtkunstwerk) of the period! Size: 22.75" L x 22.125" W (57.8 cm x 56.2 cm)

More about Tapestry Cartoons and Aubusson: "Tapestry cartoons are the life size models from which tapestries are woven. Painted in oil on canvas or gouache on paper, these paintings gave life to the smallest cushion to the largest of wall hangings. The wools and silks were dyed to match the painting, and the weaver then copied it. Working with the cartoon under the warp threads of the loom, at a rate of approximately two square metres per month, per worker, the final tapestry slowly appeared. The quality of the finished tapestry was largely dependant on the artistry of the cartoon painter combined with the skill of the weaver.

The earliest cartoon painters were usually local artists designing for the local manufacturers. Cartoons could be simple full size line drawings, where the artistry of the weaver was left to fill in the colours, or full size, full colour paintings, where the weaver copied exactly what was before him. Often different painters specialized in landscapes, flowers, animals or figurative subjects. Several painters could have been employed on a single cartoon. The cartoon painter's job was to create a cartoon, from what might have been a great painting, for the weavers to work on. However, a famous painting might be entrusted to a master weaver.

The earliest centre for the weaving of tapestries in France, can be traced back to 1457 in a small town situated on the banks of the river Creuse, Aubusson is now associated the world over for its tapestries.

In 1665 Louis XIV gave the title 'Manufacture Royale d'Aubusson' to the various manufacturers working in the town of Aubusson.

In 1731 a painter arrived in Aubusson, appointed by Louis XlV to the service of the Manufacture of Tapestries. Jean-Joseph Dumons, born in 1687, worked the in Aubusson until 1755. It was at this time that a school was opened to teach painters working for the tapestry industry. Dumons was followed by Jacques Juillard, a pupil of Francois Boucher, considered by some to be a greater designer of tapestries than a painter.

1731 became a turning point in the history of Aubusson. It was a time when the great painters of France were working with the industry. Jean-Baptiste Oudry had been appointed both painter to, and artistic director of Beauvais in 1726, Le Brun, Boucher and Dumons were working in Aubusson. The 17th and 18th centuries saw some of the greatest French tapestries produced. Scientific advances in the 18th century saw the introduction of many new colours for the dying of the wools. From an original palate of very few colours with the wools dyed with natural dyes, the quest for a greater number of colours reached a height in the mid 19th century when Michel-Eugene Chevreul the colour physicist who directed the Gobelins dyestuffs laboratory composed a palette of 14,400 colour tones. However, it was becoming apparent that these new colours were not light resistant and in 1919 Marius Martin director of the regional Decorative Arts School, suggested that the weaver's range should be reduced to simple and above all durable colours." ("Tapestry Cartoons A Short History" - Julia Boston Antiques website)

Provenance: private Vero Beach, Florida, USA collection, acquired before 2003

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#177548

Significant age wear with crease marks and normal darkening. Pin holes throughout from use. Crayon marks in areas as shown, most bordering the painted cartoon. Despite age wear, the imagery and hues are quite nice.