Lot 62
![BRUSSELS [ANTWERP] HISTORICAL TAPESTRY 'ZENOBIA AND AURELIAN', FROM THE STORY OF ZENOBIA, WORKSHOP OF PHILIP WAUTERS](https://media.app.artisio.co/media/3c46a90b-92a2-4adf-9b84-1eb5335a620f/inventory/21b9f1b2-b21a-4d69-9cf6-30a139fbe57c/20d2ccca-2b2b-48f8-87d2-00adc24dd6eb/0001_xlCvZn_original.jpg)
BRUSSELS [ANTWERP] HISTORICAL TAPESTRY 'ZENOBIA AND AURELIAN', FROM THE STORY OF ZENOBIA, WORKSHOP OF PHILIP WAUTERS
THIRD QUARTER 17TH CENTURY
Auction: Day One
Description
PLEASE NOTE UPDATED DESCRIPTION AND ATTRIBUTION
woven in wools and silks, depicting Queen Zenobia mounted on a white stallion trampling over a figure to the centre, war elephants to the left, cavalry and soldiers fighting on the banks of the river, a hilltop fortification in the distance and a rural landscape beyond, within an architectural border with fruiting and ribbon tied floral garlands upheld by winged cherubic figures, with a central cartouche to the top and sides and a winged mask to the base, within a brown outer slip with the ateliers symbol to the bottom left for Philip Wauters.
Dimensions
524cm x 345cm
Footnote
Note: The scene most likely depicts the Battle of Emesa, and shows Zenobia, queen of the Palmyran empire, dressed as a warrior on horseback, accompanied by general Zabdas as her army battles with the army of Roman emperor Aurelian. The series from which this tapestry is taken is not well researched, but does appear in several early 20th century references on Brussels tapestries. A version of this scene is included in Johann Böttger, Tapisseries à Figures des XVIe et XVIIe siècles appartenant aux collections privées de la Suède, 1928, and the same tapestry is reproduced in Marillier, English Tapestries of the 18th Century, 1930. Marillier mistakenly attributed all Wauters tapestries to an English origin. A set of tapestries on the same subject, which may be the one of the current lot, is listed in the papers of the Forchoudt family firm of 17th century art dealers, who list the designer as 'van Houbraten', Jean Denucé, Kunstuitvoer in de 17de eeuw te Antwerpen. De Firma Forchoudt, Antwerp, 1936.
With special thanks to Helen Wyld, Senior Curator of Historic Textiles, Global Arts, Cultures and Design, National Museums Scotland, for help in identifying the subject and maker of this lot.