Tea H. 2.93 x W. 4.58 m H. 9ft 7 ½ x W. 15ft ½ Le... Lot 39

Tea H. 2.93 x W. 4.58 m H. 9ft 7 ½ x W. 15ft ½ Le Thé was not part of the hanging woven in Beauvais after Boucher's models; Dumons was inspired by Boucher in adding this beautiful subject, which was woven in different widths and finenesses, with or without a border. The border framing the tapestry was commissioned from Dumons by Picon (Bertrand, 2013, p. 95). It is in the imitation of a gilded wooden frame, chased with acanthus leaves and enhanced with cabochons of ruby-red and sapphire-blue stones. Related tapestries: Among the many existing versions of Le Thé, we would like to highlight the following: - The Bayerische Museum in Munich has the same tapestry with the same border, larger, 2.86 m x 5.00 m (Bertrand 2013, pp. 92-113, fig. 92). - The H. Helffer collection has a large Tea tapestry (H. 2.47 x W. 6.68 m), featuring comtal arms (Bertrand 2013, p. 100, fig. 43). - The Musée du Louvre holds a similar tapisserie du Thé (OAR 19), wider and less high (H. 2.33 x W. 5.16 m) and without border (Pazzis-Chevalier, 1999, catalog Exhibition: Rio, p. 64 and Bertrand 2013, fig. 64). Materials and condition: Woven in wool and silk: wool warp (5 warp threads per cm), wool and silk weft. Good condition. Provenance: - Private collection, USA - Galerie Chevalier - Picard sale, Drouot, November 1995 Two tapestries from the Manufacture royale d'Aubusson The second Chinese tapestry, also known as Fêtes Chinoises, Tea and the Chinese Fair, 18th century, circa 1760-1770 The two tapestries are sold separately Origin of the models : These tapestries are part of a famous set entitled: La Tenture chinoise, also known as Seconde tenture chinoise, after the painters François Boucher (1703-1770) and Jean-Joseph Dumons (1687-1779). The theme of the Far East had been in vogue for almost a century in the European decorative arts. At the end of the 17th century, the painters Jean Baptiste Belin de Fontenay, Jean Baptiste Monnoyer and Guy Vernansal provided the Manufacture Royale de Beauvais with cartoons for a first Chinese hanging called L'Histoire de l'Emereur de Chine, later also known as Première Tenture chinoise. A second Chinese hanging was designed for the Manufacture Royale de Beauvais years later, in 1734, by François Boucher. Boucher's beautiful modelli (oils on canvas), now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Besançon (France), were adapted for tapestry by the painter Dumons, who produced the cartoons, i.e. the full-scale models. Some twenty years later, Dumons also produced cartoons for the Manufacture Royale d'Aubusson, adapted or inspired by Boucher's work. Thé and entrefenêtres were added to the Beauvais models. The two tapestries presented in the sale are a wonderful example of the enduring taste for Far Eastern exoticism in the last third of the 18th century in France and Europe. In this tapestry, the evocation of the Orient is joyful and sensual. The two tapestries were not woven at the same time; if the origin of the models and the town of production are the same, the workshop in Aubusson may not have been the same. Most of the tapestries in the Second Chinese Tenture were woven in the workshops of the Picon family. Bertrand, in his 2013 book (op. cit), in order to establish a corpus of Aubusson tapestries, lists the known tapestries of the Chinese hanging, which was a great success in its Aubusson version.