King Cyrus the Great, King of Persia (d.529 BC) receiving the riches of his defeated enemy King Croesus, King of Lydia (595 BC - c.546 BC)
La Marche
Category
Tapestries
Date
circa 1600 - circa 1650
Materials
Tapestry, wool and silk, 4 warps per cm
Measurements
2.8 m (H); 3 m (W)
Place of origin
La Marche
Order this imageCollection
Lytes Cary Manor, Somerset
NT 254767
Caption
Hanging brightly decorated tapestries on the wall provided both colour and insulation against the cold.
Summary
Tapestry, wool and silk, 6½ warps per cm, King Cyrus, probably Aubusson, c. 1630-1650. A king, possibly King Cyrus, sits on a throne on the right holding a staff, and a soldier approaches holding its other end. Behind the soldier men bring chests full of money and lay them on the ground around the throne, and at the tope left people can be seen carrying sacks and vases. The King is surrounded by attendants including a man at the lower right who reads from a book. The borders are composed of bunches of fruit and leaves on a brown ground, with a narrow decorative band around the edge. The lower border has been removed and re-attached and part of it is now hidden, and at the lower right corner of the tapestry has been replaced with sections of painted canvas.
Full description
The subject of the tapestry is not certain but it may represent King Cyrus receiving the riches of his defeated enemy Croesus. Stylistically the tapestry can be attributed to the French workshops of the Marche region, either Aubusson or Felletin. Similar borders are found on tapestries from this region made in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries (for example Chevalier, Chevalier and Bertrand 1988, p. 27). (Helen Wyld, 2012)
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust along with the house and contents by Sir Walter Jenner, 2nd Bt (1860 - 1948)
Credit line
Lytes Cary Manor, the Jenner Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
La Marche , workshop
References
Chevalier, Chevalier and Bertrand, 1988: Dominique Chevalier, Pierre Chevalier and Pascal-François Bertrand, Les Tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin 1457-1791, Paris 1988