Rare, Very Large Silk-Work Embroidery Depicting Louis Philippe And His Family

French. Second Quarter Of The Nineteenth Century.
Measurements
Width: 78 5/8" (200 cm); Height: 57 3/4" (147 cm).

Reasearch:
Of embroidered silk in various colors.

The present hanging is an apparently unique commemoration exercise in needlework centered on Louis Philippe I (1773–1850), King of the French. He was the head of the royal French house of Orléans, and reigned from 1830 to 1848 as the figurehead of the constitutional July Monarchy. He was the last French ruler to bear the title ‘King.’

As a narrative textile, this piece is replete with political and military references and symbolism, as well as what appear to be highly personal vignettes. Louis Philippe’s life is the focal theme of the entire embroidery. The image in the central field, which depicts the king surrounded by his family, is taken from an engraving of 1830 entitled Le Roi Citoyen avec toute sa famille au Château Royal de Neuilly. It features the king, looking out at the viewer, surrounded by his family—his wife, sister, five sons and three daughters. Twelve smaller circular vignettes within a mesh border surround this image and take as their subjects domestic and military themes.

The present hanging belongs to a tradition of record keeping and storytelling in embroidery, however, no other embroidery of the large scale and complexity of design as the present work is known to exist from any time in the nineteenth century.

Full research report available on request.