1712 / 1728, Brussels

1712 / 1728, Brussels

Identifier
41.190.254
Transfer of custody
Victoria and Albert Museum
Acquisition
Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941
Collection
Material
Technique
Depiction
Production time
Production place
Type of object

Description

Depicting a group of peasants dancing while others load a wagon with hay, this piece belonged to a set of genre tapestries loosely inspired by the paintings of David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690). During the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the Brussels workshops produced large numbers of these so-called Teniers tapestries from cartoons by artists like Jan van Orley and Augustin Coppens. Featuring genre figures in idealized landscapes, they provided a lighthearted contrast to the grander history and mythology tapestries then in vogue for the staterooms of European country houses. The tapestry is signed by the brothers Daniel and Urban Leyniers, who ran a highly successful partnership with Henry Reydams in Brussels from 1712.