SET OF EIGHT “NEEDLEPAINTED” CREWELWORK HANGINGS DEPICTING ANIMALS, STILL LIFES

A SET OF EIGHT “NEEDLEPAINTED” CREWELWORK HANGINGS DEPICTING ANIMALS, STILL LIFES, BIBLICAL SCENES, AND A MALE PORTRAIT BUST
Northern European, Possibly Dutch. Last Third Of The Seventeenth Century.
Measurements
Approximate measurements of each: Height: 75" (190.5 cm); Width: 54" (137 cm).
Research:
Of colored wool on twilled wool ground.

Provenance:
The Princely Liechtenstein Collections
With Pollak and Winternitz, Vienna, Austria
Sold by Auktionshaus Albert Kende, Vienna, 29–31 March, 1933, Lot 129.
Sold by H. Bukowskis Konsthandel, Stockholm, 28 September 1936, Lot 447.

Published:
Auktionshaus Albert Kende, Vienna, 29–31 March 1933, Tafel XXXII.
H. Bukowskis Konsthandel, Stockholm, 28 September 1936, Pl. 35.


This unique set of crewelwork wall hangings, in exceptionally well-preserved condition, belonged to the Princely Collections of the House of Liechtenstein. Some of the vignettes relate to individual objects within the Liechtenstein collection, suggesting the possibility that the embroideries form a highly personal, visual and artistic record of this family’s treasured pieces.

Each hanging is comprised of two vertically oriented lengths sewn together, for a total of eight narrow, vertical panels depicting sixteen distinct compositions: animals, flower and fruit still-lifes, biblical scenes, and a male portrait bust framed with borders of acanthus and elaborate “gilded” Baroque scrollwork. The hangings are embroidered in a rainbow of single- and double-ply wool yarns on an indigo-dyed twilled wool ground using the technique of so-called shaded embroidery or “needle painting,” primarily in long-and-short, stem, and spiral stem stitches with French knots, to create a highly naturalistic, painterly effect.

The hangings were included in two successive early twentieth century sales, each stating that the works were formerly owned by the Princes of Liechtenstein. The first sale took place in Vienna in 1933 at Auktionshaus Albert Kende. The sale contained the complete stock of the antique dealers Pollak & Winternitz, and the panels formed Lot 129, with a provenance stating “Formerly owned by the Princes of Leichtenstein.” The group next appeared in 1936 in the autumn auction of “Extremely Valuable Collections,” conducted by H. Bukowskis Konsthandel in Stockholm. They are listed as lot 447, “from the Princely Liechtenstein collections.”

It is extremely rare to find shaded wool embroideries of this quality; the fineness required of shading is better suited to silk. Such workmanship suggests not only the involvement of a professional workshop or guild, but also the likelihood of a one-off commission, perhaps for a wintertime interior décor in the manner of tapestries. Each of the eight separately worked lengths (paired into the four existing hangings) must have been worked on a frame by one or more embroiderers skilled in maintaining tautness and tension without puckering the ground fabric. The execution almost entirely in wool, with some highlights in white silk, is indicative of a Northern European origin.

Full research report available on request.