1 / 4
Photo 1/4 du lotPhoto 2/4 du lotPhoto 3/4 du lotPhoto 4/4 du lot
Premium MILLON

507 - Rare embroidery, known as entretaillure, early 17th century …
See original version (French)

Estimate €60,000 - €100,000
Sale commission
Description
Rare embroidery, known as entretaillure, early 17th century , France; The scene depicts a royal music lesson: the young king Louis XIII holding his lute and his master luthier, in a lush garden, in a mannerist posture. This embroidery is also rare because of its large size as a hanging embroidery in the taste of tapestry series. This hanging is part of a series depicting life at the court of this great French king, probably a royal commission between around 1620 and 1670. Particular attention is paid to the figures (face, hair), the costumes (bows, shoes, collars) and the decorations (flowerbeds, chequered floor). On a background of taffeta and lamé silk, the embroidery is in a flat pastel of polychrome silk threads, with gold braids added using patchwork techniques, all joined together by stitching and therefore intertwined. It is edged with a beautiful band of flower embroidery. Restorations, replacements, patchwork and embroidery carried out on the panel on offer by Madame Marie Schoeffer (former head of the textile restoration department at the Musée des Tissus in Lyon). No lining, a protective strip runs along the back. Two panels of the same provenance were sold at Sotheby's in 2006/ sale of the Château de Cornillon. Provenance: private mansion in Paris Bibliography: According to Henry Harvard, *Dictionnaire de l'ameublement et de la décoration depuis le XIIIe siècle*. Maison Quantin. Paris. 1887-1890 This is a rare reference to large embroidered panels for bedrooms and drawing rooms, known as "entretaillures". "Towards the end of the fifteenth century and during the sixteenth, under the reigns of Francis I and Henry II, these hangings reached their apogee in terms of the magnificence of their design. They depicted entire stories, scenes involving 15 to 20 or more characters, all draped in velvet, camoca, cendal and satin, adorned with the most refined embroidery, including taffeta carnations and roses enhanced with a touch of paint, which came to life under a silvery sky, in the middle of a meadow of green satin, in the shade of a grove of damask with leaves edged in gold. [A payment of 1,897 livres, 2 shillings and 6 deniers, listed in François I's secret expenses, shows that his son was just as fond of these sumptuous decorations as his mother. The payment is therefore justified: "À Nicolas de Troyes, argentier du Roy, pour payer la soie, la brocart d'or et d'argent, la soie blanche et jaune, le buckram, destinés à orner une grande salle représentant l'histoire de La Cène que le roi a offert à notre Saint-Père". A tapestry at least as beautiful and dating from the same period was for a long time in the Garde-Meuble of the Crown, under the name of the tapestry of Queen Claude. [... Dimensions: H: 278 - W: 258 cm About 8 feet by 11 feet Restorations, replacements. - Rare embroidery known as 'entretaillure', early 17th century, France. The scene depicts a royal music lesson: the young King Louis XIII holding his lute with his luthier master, in a luxuriant garden, in a Mannerist pose. This embroidery is also rare because of its large size in good condition. 255 x 175 cm. - Raro ricamo detto "entretaillure", inizi del XVII secolo, Francia. The scene represents a lezione di musica reale: il giovane re Luigi XIII con il suo liuto e il suo maestro liutaio, in un giardino lussureggiante, in posa manierista. This picture is rare also for its large size and good state of preservation. 255 x 175 cm.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Château de La Verdière - The largest private château in Provence auctions off its furniture - Part II
Auction location
Auction time 06/08/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like