18th Century French Beauvais Louis XVI Neoclassical Hunting Tapestry after the painting ” Halali du Loup” by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1725, now part of the collection of Chateau Chantilly, France
Rectangular tapestry with central oval cartouche showing a polychrome hunting scene with three dogs attacking a wolf within a park landscape after the painting by Jean Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) “Halali du Loup”, 1725, which is now part of the collection of Chateau Chantilly, France. The richly decorated cartouche is set against a cream colored ground, its frame being supported by a pair of blackamore karyatides in ancient Roman costume. The hunting scene cartouche is surrounded by a rich Louis XVI polychrome floral garland decoration including neoclassical vases, ribbons and tassels. The back of the tapestry has been reinforced with cotton cloth.
Due to the style of the design and the excellent quality of execution, this tapestry can be attributed to the Beauvais Manufactory, which was re-founded by the painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry in 1726 in his capacity as artistic director. He held this position until his death in 1755. Together with Francois Boucher (1703-1770), whom he engaged as artist for the manufactory, he adapted the tapestry designs to the current taste of the time, introduced the production of smaller series and produced designs specially adapted to seating sets, which allowed him to expand the clientele to a middle-class audience and contributed significantly to the prosperity of the manufactory after its reestablishment.
Condition: wear consistent with age and use, min. fading, back of the tapestry reinforced with cloth – detailed condition report on request
