Peasants Merrymaking
Flemish
Category
Tapestries
Date
circa 1710 - circa 1740
Materials
Tapestry, wool, silk and linen. 8 warps per cm.
Measurements
227 x 124 cm
Place of origin
Belgium
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1247022.1
Summary
Tapestry, wool and silk, 8 warps per cm, Peasants Merrymaking, one of a pair of tapestries in the style of David Teniers the Younger, Flemish, probably Brussels, c. 1710-1740. A group of peasants gathers around a table where a feast is laid out, drinking and cheering riotously. Two men attempt to kiss nearby women, and another throws up both arms and nearly falls backwards off his stool. More men stand around the table holding mugs, and in the left background a woman approaches with a tray of cakes. Behind the figures is a large inn building with a diamond-shaped sign attached to the wall and an old woman watching the merrymakers from a first-floor window. The tapestry has no borders and has clearly been cut from a larger piece.
Full description
‘Peasants Merrymaking’ is one of a pair of tapestries which may originally have been part of the same scene. They belong to a genre known as ‘Teniers’ tapestries, with subjects inspired by the paintings of David Teniers the Younger showing scenes from peasant life. ‘Teniers’ tapestries were very popular in the early eighteenth century and there are a number of examples in the National Trust’s collection, including sets at Blickling (nos. 355704-6, 355774) and Nostell Priory (no. 960144). A third ‘Teniers’ tapestry at Polesden Lacey, no. 1247036, is of slightly coarser quality than the present pair and may be from a different set. (Helen Wyld, 2012)
Provenance
Date of acquisition not recorded, but probably originally at 16 Charles Street, Mayfair, Mrs Greville's London home, and bequeathed by Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942) with Polesden Lacey, to the National Trust, in memory of her father, William McEwan (1827-1913) in 1942. This item found on the probate inventory record for Charles Street chattels at Polesden Lacey, tapestries, page 24.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, the Anderson Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
Flemish, workshop probably Brussels , workshop
References
Delmarcel, 1999: Guy Delmarcel, Flemish Tapestry, Tielt 1999 Marillier, 1932: Henry C Marillier, Handbook to the Teniers Tapestries, London 1932