A RARE HERALDIC TABLE CARPET, PROBABLY SPANISH NETHERLANDS, 17TH CENTURY

A RARE HERALDIC TABLE CARPET PROBABLY SPANISH NETHERLANDS, 17TH CENTURY Woven with central oval cartouche of a scrolling twin handled vase issuing flowers with inset panel of hound on a lead, flanked by supporters of a stag and lion, serpent, snail, frog and lizard below, the surround woven with fruiting trees and flowerheads on a brown strapwork ground and with four heraldic devices in shields to the corners of the design- hand with bow among four stars, griffin segreant, both mirrored diagonally approximately 165 x 279cm Provenance: From a Private Collection Although traditionally catalogued as a carpet- this fine and rare item was intended for laying on a table as a costly and highly decorative cover, rather than on the floor. At this period textiles were rarely used as floor coverings except in the wealthiest households. The heraldic designs are less detailed and refined compared to other examples such as the Lewknor Table Carpet (Metropolitan Museum Accession Number: 59.33), or a comparable Elizabethan example held at Bramhall Hall. However, unlike examples held in the Victoria and Albert Museum such as the 1603 Apsley carpet (Accession Number 710-1904), the heraldry is woven within the main design rather than assigned to the borders. This would suggest a specific commission possibly produced in a professional Spanish Netherlands workshop. At the time of cataloguing, research has yet to determine the probable identity of the families the heraldic motifs may have related to. The use of strapwork suggests a mid to late 16th century inspiration but slightly looser in design than examples such as the knotwork in The Luttrell Table Carpet (Burrell Collection of Glasgow Museum). Almost certainly it originally had a further border which would have hung down vertically from the table's edges. The same composition of central oval panel surrounded by floral strapwork can be seen in a comparable example from the Mayorcas collection and catalogued as a 17th Century Spanish Part-Silk Netherlands needlework Table Carpet, sold Christie's London, 12th February 1999, lot 407. Literature: Anthony Bostock and Paul A. Fox, The Bramhall Hall Elizabethan Heraldic Carpet, The Coat of Arms, Journal of The Heraldry Society, Fourth Series Volume III, 2020 M. J. Mayorcas, English Needlework Carpets, 1963