Deux rares tapisseries Louis XV des Gobelins de la série...

Deux rares tapisseries Louis XV des Gobelins de la série Don Quichotte, une par Michel Audran, datée 1757, l'autre par Pierre-François Cozette, datée 1764, d'après un dessin de Charles Antoine Coypel, faisant partie de la sixième série tissée

Two rare Louis XV Gobelins tapestries from the Don Quixote series, one dated 1757 by Michel Audran, the other dated 1764, by Pierre-François Cozette, after a design by Charles Antoine Coypel, part of the sixth weaving of the series

Both woven in wool and silk, the first entitled 'The False Princess Micomicon asking Don Quixote to Restore her to her Throne', the central cartouche showing the young female in typical dress with elaborate plumed headdress, her turbaned companion kneeling behind her, two figures peeking out from behind a tree, a rocky landscape in the distance, the text to the bottom of the flowering frame reading LA FAUSSE PRINCESSE MICOMICON, VIENT PRIER DOM QUICHOTTE DE LA REMETTRE SUR LE THRÔNE, the second tapestry entitled 'Don Quixote made a Knight by the Inn Keeper,' the central cartouche showing the main figure of Don Quixote in his armour, kneeling before the inn-keeper who is adorned with a pluming red hat, two figures, one female and one youth standing behind him, two maidens holding the military attributes of Don Quixote behind the kneeling knight, a young woman to the foreground drawing water from the well, dressed in a red dress, the text below to the flowering frame reading DOM QUICHOTTE FAIT CHEVALIER, PAR L'HOSTE, DE HOTELLERIE both scenes are set within a central reserve with scrolling foliate and frame, headed by a peacock, and flanked by ribbon-tied foliate swags, above bursting cornucopiae and military trophies, within a frame border, resting on a base with armour and an axe, flags and cornucopiae, flanked by a spaniel and a ram, the corners with interlaced L's, on blue oval medallions, the former signed and dated UDRAN. G. 1757' with a fleur-de-lys to the dark blue outer slip with signature, the latter signed and dated 'Cozette 1764' to the lower right field, and signed COZETTE on the blue outer slip, minor wear to outer slip,
361.5cm x 283cm (11.86ft x 9.28ft) and 361cm x 275.5cm (11.84ft x 9.03ft)
(2 )
Provenance
Commissioned by Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, Marquis de Marigny, Surintendent et Directeur des Batiments du Roi;
Sold as part of a larger set to Madame Veron on 4 July 1783 (Don Quixote knighted by the innkeeper delivered on 27th November, 1764), thence by inheritance to;
Louis Grégoire Veron, Receveur Général des Finances de France-Comté in 1780;
Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, by 1865, thence to his son;
Sir Richard Wallace, sold at Christie's London, 20 April 1876, lot 210;
Baron de Gunzbourg, sold to Paul Chevalier, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 30 January 1884, lots 3 and 4 respectively;
Clarence H. Mackay by 1926, thence by descent to his daughter, Mrs Robert Z.Hawkins, 1958;
English private collection

Exhibited
Paris, Palais de l'Industrie, Exhibition de l'Union centrale des Beaux-Arts appliqués à l'industrie, 1865 (loaned by Lord Hertford who lent the pieces to the Musée Rétrospectif Exhibition)

This magnificent series was woven nine times - between 1714 and 1794 - with six different alentours (borders), resulting in approximately 200 panels over the course of 80 years. The initial manufacture of the series was overseen by Robert Cotte, the Royal Architect in Chief and Gobelins director (1656-1735) and the Duc d'Antin, Surintendant des Batiments du Roi (1708-1736), who received the first set, which consisted of 16 panels (see below).
The production and distribution of the series in the 18th century is complex, but dates of the first few sets are thought to be as follows:

The first set for the Duc D'Antin in 1717 (sold at Christie's London, 10th June 1993);
The second set consisted of 12 panels, a gift from Louis XV to the Spanish Ambassador;
The third set was woven in 1733;
The fourth set, woven at some point between 1746-49, consisted of twelve pieces (sold as a whole to the Duke of Parma and currently in Turin);
The fifth set included thirty panels;
The sixth set (the present lot) originally consisted of 23 panels and is thought to have been woven between 1757-64;
The seventh set consisted of 14 panels;
The eighth set had a phenomenal 67 tapestries woven to make up the set.

A set of this series with a red background was woven between 1772-1785 and given to Albert and Marie-Christine, Duke and Duchess of Saxe Teschen in 1786. Four of these are now at the J.Paul Getty Museum (acc.no 82.DD.66-69). Four tapestries from the series were presented on 18 July 1788 by Louis XVI to the artist Richard Cosway as a sign of gratitude for the four tapestry cartoons by Giulio Romano depicting the history of Scipio, which Cosway had presented to the King for display in the Louvre. Cosway gave his set to George IV shortly afterwards and they were hung in Carlton House until 1823, when they were moved to Buckingham Palace (inv.RCIN 3190-94).

A Royal Commission 'Presents from the King to Princes and Ambassadors'

Don Quixote (or 'The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha), captured the 17th century European noble imagination as translations permeated the various courts and libraries of the upper échelons of society. These tapestries are of particular importance because they represent a change in artistic subject matter at the Gobelins factory. There was a noticeable shift from depictions of stories of military subjects and classical mythology to lighter and occasionally, frivolous scenes.

Charles Coypel (1694-1752), painter to Louis XV, created 28 cartoons for the Gobelins manufactory. He received 200 livres for each design. The paintings on which the present lot are based date to 1716 and 1714 (as panels 6 and 0 respectively). 'Don Quixote knighted by the Innkeeper' was the first painting of the series to be presented at the Gobelins factory and set the tone for the rest of the panels.

These specific borders, (or alentours) occur for the first time in these tapestries. Some scholars have argued that these borders, which are credited to Jean Baptiste Belin de Fontenay, have just as much iconographic significance as the scenes depicted in the central cartouches. For this set the borders form part of the fifth version of the weaving, which was a variant of the second. That version was a joint effort of Audran and Fontenay under Coypel. The fifth version, only used until 1760, was executed by Vallade who was supervised by Coypel and supplied to Audran in 1751.

We know that the Duc D'Antin had wanted new paintings from Coypel and wider hangings so under Coypel a new alentour was designed, mainly using the work of Claude Audran. The piles of armour and flags to the bottom were enlarged, some books added and additional animals including a monkey.

The first set of these tapestries were commissioned by the Duc d'Antin, who, when he could not pay for the set, said it was intended for the King. The sets thereafter were essentially crown controlled and overseen by different directors of the Gobelins factory over the course of the 18th century. As Fenaille observes, it was clear that the weavers of Gobelins produced 'stock' tapestries from which selections which could be made by the King at any time for any purpose. As Garnier d'Isle wrote in 1752: 'Cette tenture a la commodité de pouvoir estre separée en autant et si peu de pièces que l'on veut, et d'autant plus convenable a fair des présents du roy aux princes ou aux ambassadeurs'

A set of Don Quixote tapestries was given by Louis XV to Count Vorontsov around 1758 and was used as an ambassadorial tool to 'tilt' Russia to the French side during the war. Catherine the Great noticed the gesture and commented that the king 'by way of a bribe had furnished a house in St Petersburg with old furniture which had belonged to Madame de Pompadour'.

Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, Marquis de Marigny and the Don Quixote Tapestries

The Marquis de Marigny, Surintendant et Directeur des Bâtiments du Roi and brother of Madame de Pompadour, was appointed Director of the Gobelins manufactory in 1752 and commissioned the set that included the present lot.

The set originally included 23 panels and 6 overdoor panels. Four of these were given by Louis XV to Count Vorontsov, and a further six were sold to the Guard of the Royal Treasury and a single panel was gifted to Madame de Monmartel in 1767. Eight panels were given to Charles Henri Poussin in 1773 as part payment for furnishing Versailles and Fontainebleau, and the remaining four (including the present lot) to Madame Veron in 1763. It is known that Madame Veron swapped one of the initial four for the 'Don Quixote Knighted by the Innkeeper', for an additional fee of 599 livres. The four panels then passed to Louis Grégoire Veron, Receveur Général des Finances de France-Comté. They then entered the legendary collections of the 4th Marquess of Hertford before being sold -in 1867 by Christie's- by his heir, Sir Richard Wallace. They were described in the catalogue as:

'Three splendid sets of Beauvais and Gobelins Tapestries' they were all from famous series including Four Gobelins panels with the Royal cipher in the corners and with similar subjects on yellow ground.'

The four tapestries remained together until 1958, when they were in the collection of Clarence Mackay's daughter and subsequently split into two pairs, the other pair depicting 'Sancho's Entry,' and 'Sancho's Cowardice'.

Two recent exhibitions have focussed solely on this remarkable series:
Don Chisciotte, tra Napoli, Caserta e il Quirinale: I Cartoni e gli Arazzi
Naples, Palazzo Reale, 19 May-6 September 2022.
Coypel's Don Quixote Tapestries: Illustrating a Spanish Novel in Eighteenth-Century France, Frick Collection, New York, 25 February – 17 May 2015.