THREE ITALIAN EMBROIDERED VELVET CURTAINS IN RENAISSANCE STYLE

THREE ITALIAN EMBROIDERED VELVET CURTAINS IN RENAISSANCE STYLE

C.1870

of rust colour, stamped with alternating circles and diamonds, the circles containing a hound and stag's head, the diamonds with Tudor roses, the wide applique borders with interlocking raised work in gilt bronze round linen couched threads, gilt bronze wires and tinsel curls, lined and interlined (3)

411 x 371cm

412 x 305cm

437 x 367cm

Provenance

Probably Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Mentmore Towers.

Sotheby Parke Bernet, Mentmore House, May 1977.

Acquired by Bernard Nevill (1930-2019), Fonthill, Wiltshire from the Mentmore sale.

Catalogue Note

Mentmore Towers, known as Mentmore, was built as a country house between 1852-54 for Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (1818-1874). The house was designed in the late 16th / early 17th century style called 'Jacobethan' and was home to the extensive Rothschild collection of art and antiques.

When the contents of Mentmore were sold in 1977, Bernard Nevill bought the present curtains and a large number of other furnishings for his home, the converted stables on the Fonthill Estate, Wiltshire. Nevill (1930-2019) was a professor of textiles at the Royal College of Art, a textile designer and a director of design at Liberty's, where he produced two exciting ranges of printed textiles, 'Islamic' (1963) and 'Jazz' (1964). He was an aesthete and a great collector and he felt he was rescuing beautiful objects when he had no use for them. The curtains featured in an article on Nevill in the World of Interiors magazine in February 2020.