Tapestry: T.2-1956

Maker(s)

Maker: Brussels tapestry workshops

Entities

• Tapestry

Categories

• Woven textiles

Description

Silk and wool tapestry with in the centre the arms of a member of the Grimaldi family of Genoa, and the motto SVS QUE DE QUE FERRE. The crest displays an eagle, arms and Fleur de Lys. The background consists of a rippling sea with a coastline on the horizon. Atlas is standing on an islet and stoops under the weight of a globe which he bears on his left shoulder. Fortune stands on a terrestrial globe and holds a sail filled by a favourable wind in her left hand. The borders are filled with flowers and fruit with in each corner the Grimaldi arms.

Notes

History note: This piece had been on loan from the late Sir Ronald Storrs since 1932

Legal notes

Purchased with the Marlay Fund

Place(s) associated

• Brussels ⪼ Flanders

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1956-07-12) by Storrs, Ronald, Sir

Dating

16th Century
Circa 1530 - Circa 1570

Note

A very similar armorial tapestry made in Brussels also showing the Grimaldi family coat of arms can be found in the collection of the Art & History Museum in Brussels (inv. no. 2545, described as a Door Curtain). However, the individual manufacturer’s monogram on that tapestry is different to that found on this tapestry (partial, on the left vertical selvedge). Tapestries containing the Grimaldi arms were thus woven by at least two different manufacturers in Brussels.

However, the manufacturer’s monogram on the Fitzwilliam tapestry, although partial, does appear to be the same as that found on a series of Brussels tapestries of the Spheres (Hercules, Atlas and Jupiter) now in the Spanish Royal Collection (Patrimonio Nacional) and dated to c. 1530-43. As described on that collection’s website, ‘The tapestries are woven in gold, on the left vertical selvedge, a weaver brand that has not been deciphered to date consists of a central stem with two large leaves at the bottom, a floral corolla in the centre and a pennant by top, which has been attributed to merchant Georg Wezeler.’

This tapestry was formerly thought to have been made somewhere in Flanders, in the second half of the the sixteenth century. However, the red shield flanked on both sides by the letter ‘B’ (on the lower left horizontal selvedge) identifies this tapestry as having been produced at the famous tapestry workshops in Brussels.