A LOUIS XIV ARMORIAL TAPESTRY

A LOUIS XIV ARMORIAL TAPESTRY CIRCA 1691-1694, PROBABLY PARIS, POSSIBLY BY GILLES BACOR, AFTER JEAN BERAIN I Woven in metal thread, wools and silks with the coat-of-arms of the Greder family headed by a crown and flanked by swans, against a tasseled and fringed canopy, within a foliate framework decorated with masks, flower baskets, and a helmet and a breast plate, in the background a formal garden with parterres and fountains, the borders with shells in the corners and interlaced G s, woven in two sections 8 ft. 10 in. (269 cm.) high, 9 ft. 4 in. (285 cm.) wide Provenance Almost certainly woven for François Laurent Greder, Solothurn, between 1691 and 1694. Probably Prince Paul Galitzine, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 10 - 11 March 1875, lot 180, and bought by Gauchez. Either Madame X (believed to be the maitresse of Gauchez), Hôtel Drouot, 20 - 23 April 1892, lots 410 - 412, or Lefortier, American Art Association, New York, 27 - 29 November 1924, lot 513. Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 15 November 2001, lot 223.