THE THEFT OF THE TRUNK: A group of gypsies surround a traveler's carriage, and while some tell the lady's fortune and receive alms others attempt to steal a trunk from the baggage-rack behind.
The tapestry is one of the series Les Bohémiens by François Casanova, and was woven in Beauvais when the factory was under the direction of André Charlemagne Charron, whose initials it bears in signature. According to the inventories, the series has been woven only twice—once in 1777 for the king, and again in 1799.[33]
The vividness of the minor episodes and the vivacity of characterization of even the lesser actors make this a most interesting tapestry. The weaving is done with exquisite skill and the color is unusually fresh and charming.
François Casanova (1730-1805) went to Italy in 1727 where he studied under Guardi and Francesco Simonini. He returned to France and later studied under Parocel. In 1763 he was received into the Academy and exhibited in the salons until 1783.
67 BEAUVAIS, XVIII CENTURY (1735-1740)
Wool and Silk.
H. 11 ft. 9 in.
W. 14 ft. 6 in.
Lent by P. W. French & Company.
THE ARMS OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE: Two angels on clouds support the coat of arms before an ermine drape against a ground of fleur-de-lis on blue.
The angels are after Boucher, the only coat of arms in tapestry known to which Boucher has contributed. It is evidently one of several fleur-de-lis pieces listed in the accounts of Beauvais between 1735 and 1740 and may be the one made for the Parliament of Rouen in the latter year.[34]
It is an unusually rich and interesting armorial, the angels with their characteristic Boucher grace adding great beauty to the formal setting.