A Flemish game park tapestry, Enghien, late 16th century

woven with a formalised garden and foreground vine-clad colonnaded pergola with term figure supports and intricate balustrade, the foreground incorporating exotic animals, within a four-sided compartmentalised border with allegorical figures including Victory, Chastity, Pride and Fortitude, within blue and white strapwork narrow inner and outer borders

This tapestry has old hessian lining. It is recommended that it should be lined and that Velcro should be added across the top edge for hanging purposes in the future. The tapestry is turned under a small amount at the top, and is underneath the lining. This is visible in the catalogue/on-line photograph. The colours overall in reality are faded generally, and are generally a good colour match with the photograph across the tapestry. It is crisper and more defined in appearance in reality. It is for example faded across the top border, more so than across the lower border (as visible in the photograph). There are small areas of repair and reweaving in areas. For example there is an area of reweaving to the far right corner of the main composition in the dark green area. There are some small scattered repairs in areas, for example along the top edge of the sky, and especially around the flying bird in the top left corner, which is also now discoloured, commensurate with age. There are some minor short lengths of repair in areas, possibly old fold damage, for example to the right of the term support on the right hand side of the tapestry, in area through some of trees in background. Similar vertical line through the rear of the standing goat in lower right corner and a horizontal repair in line across the small figure, just above the goat in right of composition, and vertical repair through the tail of the bird in the centre of the balustrade in the foreground. There is an old repaired vertical split in the top right corner. The borders are original to the tapestry. There is some minor oxidisation to the areas of brown in areas, with commensurate later repair in different shade of brown. There are therefore corresponding areas of later repairs such as highlights for definition, for example to the neck of the snake, to the dark whiskers of long necked giraffes in lower left corner, and to areas of the balustrade across the foreground and the brown of centre of the trellis canopy of main pergola. There are some water mark stains, visible in the photograph, in the lower left corner of the border and within the lower right border (in the lower corner and in an area extending vertically through the fruit group to the central seated allegorical figure), visible as a dark tea-coloured stain, probably from water damage in past. There are some cobbled repairs in the lower left corner of the border, to the right of the two putti in lower border, and left of seated allegorical figure. Otherwise the overall the condition is very good, stable, and with balanced colour overall. Of a good size. This is a stunning tapestry, finely woven, with a very attractive border, with charming details overall.
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The composition of figures in landscapes and hunting scenes in the foreground of elaborate buildings and formalised gardens, is in the manner of Hans Vredeman de Vries. 

For a similar Enghien tapestry, without the colonnaded pergola, with similar formal garden inclusion of the hunting group and various birds, see Guy Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestries, London, 1999, pp.172-173. This published piece also has a border which has very similar motifs, including the distinctive strap-work blue and cream inner, outer and internal panels and some of the same allegorical figures. It bears the Enghien mark and the date 1589, associated with the commission of this particular piece and inclusion of family coat-of-arms. 

Compare it with an Enghien Game Park tapestry, late 16^th century, without the colonnaded pergola, depicting a formalised enclosed garden, hunters in pursuit and a large turkey and cockerel in the foreground, within the same border type and incorporating the same allegorical figures of Chastity in the side borders, sold Sotheby’s, London, 10^th December 2003, lot 37. 

For a Game Park tapestry, with the Enghien mark and unidentified makers mark, circa 1600, of similar compositional balance to the present tapestry, the composition incorporating a similar vine clad colonnade with small term figure supports, an allegorical compartmenatlised border, albeit with additional compartments of small figural groups and separate animals, a triumphal procession rather than a hunting scene and without groups of animals or birds, see Guy Delmarcel, Tapisseries Anciennes d’Enghien, Mons, 1980, no.23. pp.54-55. 

For an interesting comparable ‘Pergola’ tapestry with similar elements of the Game Park compositions of the hunt and formalised gardens, and in this example including the strap-work blue and cream inner border, and incorporating a similar vine clad colonnade pergola with supports with small term figures, as in the present tapestry, see Sotheby’s, Milan, 28^th October 2003, lot 365. This has a very different main border design with exuberant scrolls, and the tapestry was attributed to the Brussels workshop of Jan II Raes, circa 1600/1620.