FR EN
1 / 17
an image of a tapestry hanging on a wall in a rooman image of a tapestry hanging on the wall of a rooma tapestry with a picture of a group of people riding on horsesa tapestry with a picture of a group of people riding on horsesa tapestry with a picture of a couple riding on a horsea tapestry with a picture of a group of people riding on horsesa picture of a tapestry with animals and trees on ita tapestry hanging on the wall of a room with a painting on itan image of a tapestry with a boy in a treea tapestry with a picture of a man and a woman in a gardena painting of a boy holding a bowl in his handa painting of a woman riding a horse and a man on a horsea tapestry with a picture of a man riding a cowa picture of a tapestry with a building in the backgrounda piece of fabric with writing on it sitting on a tablean image of a bed with a white sheet on ita tapestry with a painting of a man and a woman
Premium Coutau-Bégarie & Associés

148 - An exceptional, large and finely woven tapestry in wool and …
See original version (French)

Estimate €6,000 - €8,000
Sale commission
Description
An exceptional, large and finely woven tapestry in wool and silk from the Royal Manufactory at Mortlake (England), second half of the 17th century, circa 1650–1670. Title: Children’s Bacchanal with a Goat or The Triumph of Bacchus as a Child. Design by the painter Francis Cleyn (Clein), official draughtsman of the Royal Manufactory at Mortlake appointed by King Charles I of England (1638), inspired by an Italian model (Jules Romain, a pupil of Raphael, 1530) and Flemish compositions. Part of the ‘Children’s Games’ series (comprising six to eight different panels: The Triumph of Bacchus as a Child, The Children’s Dance (the round dance), The Grape Harvest (or Fruit Picking), The Wine Press, and Water Games). The scene depicts a joyful procession of children, little imps surrounding the child Bacchus, crowned with vine branches, sitting astride the back of a large goat with curved horns. On the right, two young boys wearing laurel wreaths can be seen in profile, one playing cymbals and the other the trumpet, near a drunken figure reclining on the ground beside two upturned, gilded Renaissance-style ewers symbolising the wine flowing freely during Bacchus’s triumph (all these attributes—the goat, the cymbals, the thyrsus, the wine cup and the wine jars are a superb example of the English Baroque). In the background, rendered in Baroque perspective, one can see a large fortified residence or castle surrounded by lush woodland. Bead-and-reel border featuring motifs of pearls and small scrolls (with alternating gadroons, pearls and ovals). The centre of the border: decorated with rows of large, stylised, curled gilded acanthus leaves surrounded by small bouquets of white flowers and red fruits against a midnight blue background. Four spandrels with gilded shells, creating the effect of picture frame mouldings. Dimensions: 283 cm high x 531 cm wide (restored; colours refreshed; shows natural oxidation and wear). Note: Mortlake, founded in 1619 during the reign of James I of England on the initiative of Sir Francis Crane I as a large workshop serving the royal court with Flemish weavers from Brussels, Antwerp and the Southern Netherlands. Sources: 1) Cotehele House, Cornwall 2) National Trust 3) Holyrood Palace (Edinburgh, Scotland) 4) Boughton, Northamptonshire 5) Getty Collection
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Provenance and Collection
Auction location
Auction time 10/30/2026 at 11:00 AM
Lot description modified on 10/13/2026 at 7:06 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like