Description

Gilt leather wall hangings

Dutch manufacture,
First quarter of the 18th century (1720–1728)

This refined gilded leather wall covering, made in the first quarter of the 18th century, fully embodies the decorative taste and fashion of its time. The composition is structured around a central axis featuring a fan-and-palmette motif; ribbons, trellises, leaves, and flowers intertwine harmoniously to form two large lateral cartouches.The shades of light blue and gold lend the surface an extraordinary luminous richness. The inner bands of the cartouches are further enhanced with painted veining. The work provides an exemplary illustration of the development of gilded leather craftsmanship in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 18th century.

Comparative examples of this design survive as wall coverings in two rooms of the former Court of Bruges (1728) and at Oxburgh Hall (Great Britain).

Individual panels are held in the collections of the Museum Het Vleeshuis in Antwerp, the Deutsches Tapetenmuseum in Kassel (inv. 86/86), and the Württembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart (inv. E3464).

Period: 18th century, 1720–1728

Dimensions: 103 × 145 cm

Manufacture: Netherlands

Provenance: Private collection