RKD STUDIES

The collections present in the Netherlands can be divided into two categories. The first category relates to tapestries that are still in situ in the location they were made or commissioned for. The second category includes tapestries and other tapestry-woven objects that were collected later.

The interiors preserved in situ containing specially made or commissioned tapestries from the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are found in town halls, guesthouses, castles or country estates and a few bourgeois houses spread throughout the Netherlands. Also preserved is a stadtholder’s interior with tapestries and a set of furniture with tapestry-woven upholstery from 1790 in Het Binnenhof in The Hague (cat. 66). A unique feature here is that a considerable number of these tapestry interiors were produced in our own country. (Fig. 1)

The earliest and only example from the sixteenth century is a series of two relatively low tapestries featuring biblical scenes (circa 1525-1560), woven in the Northern or Southern Netherlands, in the chapel of the Museum Sint Anna Aalmoeshuis, a guesthouse or almshouse in Leiden (cat. 158). Two tapestries with scenes from the Old Testament, made in Oudenaarde around 1600, can be found in the Rederijkerskamer Sociëteit 'Trou moet Blycken' in Haarlem (cat. 121), which was founded in 1503, where they have been at least since 1734, although probably even since the early seventeenth century. A much more extensive, and comprehensively documented, ensemble is in the Regentenzaal of the Bartholomeus Gasthuis in Utrecht (cat. 183). All the walls here are completely covered with the so-called Landscape verdures with animals, featuring the regents’ coats of arms. This series was made in 1642-1648 in Maximiliaan van der Gucht’s workshop in Delft. Remarkably, there are several other interiors featuring series of landscapes with animals in situ made by the same Delft workshop. These include the town hall of Nijmegen (1665-1666) (cat. 161), Slot Zuylen (circa 1670) (cat. 167) and Huis Gunterstein near Breukelen (circa 1681-1689) (cat. 49).

Gouda’s town hall also includes a room entirely lined with landscape verdure tapestries featuring animals. These were created in 1642 in the town itself, by David Rufelaer’s workshop (cat. 115).

Fig. 1
wandtapijtweverij van Piat Lefebvre & fils naar ontwerp van Anoniem Doornik 1790
Bacchus - De Herfst, 1790
Den Haag, Binnenhof

The only existing example of a seventeenth century Dutch interior with a tapestry suite consisting of a table carpet and matching chairs upholstered in tapestry from about 1650-1670 can be found in the Regentenzaal of the Deutzenhofje in Amsterdam (cat. 31). It belongs to the distinctive genre of floral tapestry woven in the Northern Netherlands, depicting strewn flowers, floral bouquets and insects. (Fig. 2)

In 1629 and 1630, the Haarlem city council awarded the prestigious commission of two tapestries, presently still there, intended for the town halls’ city council chamber. The no less than ten metres wide tapestry with The Capture of Damiate and a chimney piece with The Addition to the Arms were woven in Haarlem itself by Joseph Thienpondt (Thybauts), after designs by various Haarlem artists (cat. 123 and cat. 124). At the same time, this Haarlem workshop manufactured a large number of cushions with the civic coats of arms (cat. 122) for the same room. Some four decades later, in 1668, the Landscape verdure with hunting scene and the Oud Haarlem castle was delivered by Maximiliaan van der Gucht from Delft for the mayor’s chamber in the Haarlem town hall, where it remains to this day (cat. 120).

fig. 2
wandtapijtweverij van Anoniem Northern Netherlands (hist. region) ca. 1650-1670 naar ontwerp van Anoniem Northern Netherlands (hist. region) ca. 1650-1670
Tafelkleed met gestrooide bloemen, ca. 1650-1670
Amsterdam, Deutzenhofje

Since the seventeenth century, the Nijmegen town hall has held not only the aforementioned Delft series, but also two other tapestry series. These are the series manufactured in Antwerp by Michiel Wauters’ workshop featuring scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (cat. 163) and the Story of Dido and Aeneas (cat. 162). These were acquired for the decoration of two meeting rooms for the peace talks that took place in the Nijmegen town hall in 1676-1679. Today, they are also partly on display in rotation in the Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen. (Fig. 3)

The tapestry interiors in the town halls of Enkhuizen and Leeuwarden date back to the early eighteenth century, commissioned from Alexander Baert’s workshop in Amsterdam. In 1710, Baert delivered the series for the Weesmeesterenkamer of Enkhuizen’s town hall, a series of landscape verdure tapestries specifically designed for this room, featuring allegories on the orphan master’s office and the orphan masters’ coats of arms (cat. 106). (Fig. 4) Baert delivered the second series depicting the Four Continents (cat. 152) for the council chamber in Leeuwarden’s town hall, now the mayor’s office, in 1718.

In addition to the aforementioned series of landscape verdure tapestries by Maximiliaan van der Gucht in Delft, there are several other series preserved in Dutch castles and country estates, that were commissioned for them. There is a series of Park Views with Scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the Van Pallandt coat of arms, made in Oudenaarde in 1726-1727/1729 at Kasteel Eerde in Ommen (cat. 165). A remarkable series, presumably woven by Charles Vigne in Berlin, dating from around 1730-1747, can be found at Kasteel Amerongen, depicting Pursuits in the Four Seasons (cat. 3). In the late seventeenth century, the series Park Views with Children’s Games and the Spaen coat of arms, which was likely woven in Antwerp in around 1661-1691, was transferred from another castle belonging to the Spaen family and installed at Kasteel Biljoen near Velp (cat. 193). Kasteel Biljoen also contains a room, at least since 1872, lined with five Landscape verdures with Animals (cat. 192), of which four were probably produced by Maximiliaan van der Gucht in Delft in around 1650-1675, and the fifth by Alexander Baert in Amsterdam in circa 1710.

In the case of several other tapestry interiors that have long been present in their current locations in castles, it is not entirely clear when they were acquired. These include a series of Landscape verdures with birds, woven in Aubusson in the last quarter of the seventeenth century at Kasteel Keppel in Laag-Keppel (cat. 138), and a series of Forest Landscapes with children playing, produced in the Northern Netherlands in the first half of the eighteenth century at Kasteel Endegeest in Oegstgeest (cat. 164).

fig. 3
wandtapijtweverij van Michiel Wauters naar ontwerp van Giovanni Francesco Romanelli
Aeneas ontmoet Venus, 1655-1677
Nijmegen, Raadhuis Nijmegen, inv./cat.nr. T1

fig. 4
wandtapijtweverij van Alexander Baert (I) naar ontwerp van Anoniem 1710
Landschapsverdure met de allegorie van de naastenliefde en voogdijschap met de wapens van de weesmeesters, 1710
Enkhuizen, Stadhuis Enkhuizen

Tapestry interiors that have been preserved in bourgeois houses are particularly rare. The earliest known example is a series of tapestries in Huis van Gijn in Dordrecht, now a museum. Incorporated in the eighteenth-century wainscoting of the drawing-room is a series of Oudenaarde tapestries from circa 1730 featuring scenes from the play Il Pastor Fido (cat. 104). (Fig. 5) There is also a series produced around 1630-1650 by the workshop of Pieter de Cracht (Schoonhoven or Gouda) gracing the stairwell of a house in Amsterdam at Herengracht 458, which depicts the Story of Marc Antony and Cleopatra (cat. 30). This series was installed there in 1875 and came from another canal house in Amsterdam. Finally, there are two eighteenth century cushions featuring the coat of arms of the Bisdom van Vliet family in the family home in Haastrecht, now the Museum Paulina Bisdom van Vliet (cat. 130 and cat. 131).

There are no longer any tapestries in situ in Dutch religious collections. There are, however, several cushions with coats of arms woven for churches in the Northern Netherlands preserved on-site, all in Amsterdam and the surrounding areas. The oldest of these are four cushions with tapestry-woven applications of the coat of arms of Frans Banninck Cocq (circa 1648-1654) of the Dutch Reformed Church in Ilpendam (cat. 134). There are two cushion covers in the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Amsterdam featuring the coat of arms of Amsterdam, the initials of the Oude Kerk and the date 1688 (cat. 37). Alexander Baert made the cushions for the Waalse Kerk (Walloon Church) in Amsterdam featuring the Amsterdam city coat of arms, the monogram of the Waalse Kerk and the date 1714 (cat. 38). There are also two exceptionally fine sofas with tapestry upholstery made in Aubusson from 1741 in the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam (cat. 35). They are now used as chatanim sofas, and one of the two is the only known example that bears the weaver Dessarteaux’s signature.

Fig. 5
wandtapijtweverij van Albert Goeman naar ontwerp van Ludovicus van Schoor en naar ontwerp van Pieter Spierinckx (II)
Amarilli en Mirtillo reiken elkaar de hand, terwijl Dorinda verliefd naar Silvio kijkt, ca. 1730
Dordrecht, Huis Van Gijn, inv./cat.nr. 3571 a

The majority of the tapestries and other tapestry-woven objects present in the Netherlands are not in situ, but were collected later, particularly in the twentieth century. These collections can be divided into three categories: 1. Collected for the decoration of various historical buildings, 2. Museum collections, 3. The Dutch National Art Collection, now the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).

Collected for the decoration of various historical buildings

There are several town halls with a single tapestry that was acquired for a specific room in the building. Among these, a remarkable and early example can be found in the wedding hall of the city hall of Heemstede, Tobit accuses Anna of stealing a kid, woven in Brussels around 1550, based on a design attributed to Michiel Coxcie (cat. 132). (Fig. 6) In addition, the former Mayor’s Room of the Old Town Hall of The Hague contains a Park landscape with hunting scenes and leopard, most likely made in Enghien in the last quarter of the sixteenth century (cat. 82). Dating back to the seventeenth century are a Pergola with flower vases, made in Antwerp around 1650, in the city hall of Epe (cat. 108) and an Ostrich Hunt, woven in Oudenaarde or Aubusson around 1630-1660, in the council chamber of the Town Hall of Ommen (cat. 166). The wedding hall of the New City Hall in Kampen holds a Landscape verdure with a scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, possibly produced by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam in the second quarter of the eighteenth century (cat. 135).

Fig. 6
wandtapijtweverij van Anoniem Brussels ca. 1550 naar ontwerp van Michiel Coxie (I)
Tobit beschuldigt Anna van het stelen van een geitje, ca. 1550
Heemstede (plaats, Noord-Holland), Raadhuis Heemstede (Noord-Holland)

Tapestries were also acquired for the decoration of some other public buildings. Two related Brussels Landscape verdures with flower vases from circa 1650-1670 hang in the Noenzaal of the Senate building in The Hague (cat. 70 and cat. 71), where they regularly served as a backdrop to press conferences held by Dutch politicians. (Fig. 7) The Gemeenlandshuis of the Delfland Water Board in Delft is home to a Landscape verdure with animals which was possibly made in Aubusson in the third quarter of the eighteenth century (cat. 51).

Tapestries are ideally suited to furnish palaces. Although no royal collection of tapestries exists in the Netherlands, two fine tapestries from a series of the Story of Rinaldo and Armida, manufactured in Paris by Alexander de Comans’ workshop (circa 1635-1650) (cat. 34) were purchased for the interior of the Royal Palace on the Dam in Amsterdam.

Sixteen tapestries were collected for the interior of Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, including two series from the second half of the seventeenth century: a series of seven Antwerp Landscape verdures with hunting scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (cat. 40) and no less than six Brussels Tapestries with the Arms of King-Stadtholder Willem III and Queen Mary Stuart II (cat. 41). Dating from the first half of the eighteenth century are two tapestries from a series of the Story of Mark Antony and Cleopatra by the workshop of Alexander Baert and his family in Amsterdam (cat. 42). In addition, Paleis Het Loo owns a Landscape with poodle attacking a bittern with an animal scene after Jean-Baptiste Oudry, made in Aubusson circa 1750-1775 (cat. 43).

Fig. 7
wandtapijtweverij van Hendrik Reydams (I) naar ontwerp van Anoniem Brussels ca. 1650-1670
Landschapsverdure met gordijnen, bloemvazen en jachttafereel, ca. 1650-1670
Den Haag, Eerste Kamer der Staten Generaal, inv./cat.nr. ZN 138

The collection of tapestries and other tapestry-woven objects in Huis Doorn is remarkable in that everything has come from the German imperial collection and brought to Doorn in 1920 by the former German Emperor Wilhelm II in his exile. It includes some objects made in Germany, exceptional for the Netherlands, as well as some French royal gifts. The oldest three pieces were all woven in the first half of the seventeenth century in the Northern Netherlands. These are the Tapestry with flowers, fruit, animals and the Lamb of God (cat. 86) and two tapestry-woven table carpets, with scenes in cartouches with Orpheus and the animals (cat. 88) and from the Story of Joseph (cat. 87). An eighteenth-century cluster, made in Berlin, forms two pilasters and an entre-fenêtre with flower vase (cat. 90) and two tapestries from a series Heroes from Greek Mythology and the Prussian Arms (cat. 91), made by Pierre Mercier around the coronation of King Frederick I of Prussia in 1701, a Landscape verdure with fable by La Fontaine (circa 1750-1765) (cat. 92) and two Carpets with vines and flowers in rococo style, woven by Charles Vignes Erben (circa 1765) (cat. 93). The other tapestry-woven objects in Huis Doorn were produced in France. Part of a gift from King Louis XVI to Prince Henry of Prussia are the Portrait of King Henry IV of France, woven by the Manufacture des Gobelins in Paris in 1784 (cat. 97) and a set of furniture consisting of four armchairs with tapestry-woven upholstery featuring tied floral bouquets and floral arrangements from 1785 (cat. 96). Dating from approximately the same time are two exceptional tapestries made in Aubusson depicting mythological scenes (cat. 95) (Fig. 8) and a set of furniture of a sofa and six armchairs with tapestry-woven upholstery featuring animal scenes within floral wreaths (cat. 94). A series of seven Park landscapes with animals and the coat of arms of the archbishop and prince-elector of Trier, most likely woven in Aubusson around 1676-1711, probably came into possession of the Prussian royal family in the second half of the nineteenth century (cat. 89).

Fig. 8
wandtapijtweverij van Léonard Roby naar ontwerp van Marie-François Leclerc
Twee geliefden voor het altaar van Venus, ca. 1782-1790
Doorn (Utrecht), Kasteel Huis Doorn

Tapestries are particularly suited to castles and country estates. They imbue their historical interiors with an air of authenticity and can also often accommodate large pieces. An important collection can be found at Kasteel de Haar in Haarzuilens, the highlight (also within the Corpus of Tapestries in the Netherlands) being three large tapestries from a series depicting the Redemption of Man, probably woven in Brussels by Pieter van Aelst in the early sixteenth century (cat. 125). (Fig. 9) The castle also contains tapestries with a Roman triumphal procession made in Bruges circa 1535 (cat. 126), with Hercules and Hesione after the fall of Troy, woven in Brussels circa 1600-1640 (cat. 127) and two tapestries from a series with Scenes of country life ‘after Teniers’ by the Brussels workshop of the Van der Borcht family from circa 1742-1774 (cat. 128). There is also a cushion with the coat of arms of Overijssel that was possibly made by the workshop of the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam (circa 1758-1778) (cat. 129).

Huis Singraven in Denekamp owns five outstanding French tapestries. An absolute masterpiece is the large Audience of the emperor from the famous first Tenture Chinoise, made in Beauvais around 1685-1732 (cat. 61). The other tapestries in Singraven were all produced in Aubusson, namely The Birdcage or The Birdwatcher from the Fêtes chinoises, circa 1754-1785 (cat. 64), two tapestries from the series Amusements Champêtres after designs by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, circa 1761-1775 (cat. 65) and an Exotic landscape with chicken and fountain, circa 1730-1760 (cat. 62). There is also a Fire screen with rooster, chicken and lapwing, likely after a design by Oudry, woven in Beauvais around 1750-1775 (cat. 63).

Fig. 9
wandtapijtweverij van Pieter van Aelst naar ontwerp van Anoniem Southern Netherlands (hist. region) ca. 1500-1520
Schepping en zondeval, ca. 1500-1520
Kasteel de Haar, Stichting Kasteel de Haar, inv./cat.nr. 03345

Kasteel De Wiersse in Vorden has a fairly extensive tapestry collection. The highlight of this collection are thirteen large fragments of a series of tapestries produced in the Northern Netherlands around 1650 from the Story of Decius Mus after designs by Rubens (cat. 200). (Fig. 10) There is also a tapestry featuring an Ostrich Hunt, woven in Oudenaarde or Aubusson around 1625-1650 (cat. 199), a Landscape verdure with Diana hunting deer, possibly from Oudenaarde, circa 1700 (cat. 205) and an antependium depicting Mary with the Child on the crescent moon between two angels, produced in the Southern Netherlands in the first half of the sixteenth century (cat. 197). The De Wiersse collection also includes nine different tapestry-woven cushions, the earliest being a cushion with a German coat of arms from around 1500 (cat. 196). There are also two cushions depicting a shepherd couple surrounded by flowers, likely woven in the Northern Netherlands around 1660-1700 (cat. 202) and a cushion made in Scandinavia around 1700 featuring large flowers (cat. 204). The majority, however, are cushions with the coats of arms of various Dutch executive councils. Of these, three were made in the Northern Netherlands, namely for the Admiralty in West Friesland and the North Quarter from 1661 (cat. 201), the Chamber of Auditors of Holland from circa 1680-1700 (cat. 203) and the Chamber of the Auditor General from 1737 (cat. 206). The remaining two cushions with coats of arms at De Wiersse, of the city council of Gouda from 1788 (cat. 208) and the administration of the Land van Voorne from circa 1750-1790 (cat. 207), were woven in the Southern Netherlands.

Fig. 10
wandtapijtweverij van Pieter de Cracht
De inwijding van Decius Mus, eerste fragment, De inwijding van Decius Mus, eerste fragment, ca. 1650, ca. 1650
Kasteel De Wiersse, particuliere collectie Alice J.H.J.A. de (jonkvrouw) Gatacre-de Stuers, inv./cat.nr. Inv. TP 001, inv./cat.nr. Inv. TP 001

Acquired for the restored interior of Slot Zeist in the 1960s are three large Landscape verdures with scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, manufactured in the Southern Netherlands in the first quarter of the eighteenth century (cat. 209) and a tapestry with Vases with flowers and palm branches and the Arms of Pierre Nivelle as abbot of Cîteaux, woven in the Southern Netherlands or Aubusson in France around 1625-1635 (cat. 210). (Fig. 11)

Finally, since the early twentieth century, Het Nijenhuis in Diepenheim has had a room with a series of five tapestries featuring the Conversation of the ladies, produced in Oudenaarde around 1700-1710 (cat. 85).

An attractive tapestry from a series with the Story of Cyrus, based on a design by Michiel Coxcie and possibly made in Antwerp around 1600 (cat. 39) was acquired in the last decade of the twentieth century for the Museum Geelvinck Hinlopen Huis, which was then located at Herengracht 518 in Amsterdam. In 2016, the museum was relocated to Zutphen.

Fig. 11
wandtapijtweverij van Anoniem ca. 1625-1635 naar ontwerp van Anoniem ca. 1625-1635
Bloemvazen en palmtakken met het wapen van Pierre Nivelle als abt van Cîteaux, generaal-abt van de orde der cisterciënzers, ca. 1625-1635
Zeist, Slot Zeist

Museum collections
Municipal collections

Municipal museum collections of tapestries and tapestry-woven objects generally consist of tapestry that has come from disbanded municipal institutions, collected examples of their own urban production and objects featuring local coats of arms. Tapestries and tapestry-woven objects that have been acquired as (art) historical examples are in the minority.

Two important highlights are part of the collection in Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden: one of the earliest surviving tapestries produced in the Northern Netherlands, the Large-leaved verdure with animals, made in Leiden by Willem Andriesz de Raet, circa 1550-1570 (cat. 153), and a historically significant tapestry featuring The Relief of Leiden, woven in Delft in 1587-1588 (cat. 154). (Fig. 12) Furthermore, the collection also contains a tapestry fragment featuring Four coats of arms of mayors of Leiden, made by Maximiliaan van der Gucht from Delft in 1668-1669 (cat. 157) and two separate series of cushions featuring the coat of arms of the city of Leiden, possibly manufactured in Gouda in 1628 (cat. 155) and probably in Brussels in 1765-1766 (cat. 156).

Museum Gouda owns a series of seven cushions with coats of arms and a table carpet of the Gouda surgeons’ guild, produced in Gouda in 1670 and 1674 (cat. 111 and cat. 112), fragments of a burial cloth of the Gouda blacksmiths’ guild, probably made in Gouda in 1647 (cat. 109), two cushions with Gouda’s coat of arms woven in Amsterdam in 1762 and in Brussels in 1788 (cat. 114), two different cushions with the coat of arms of the Krimpenerwaard Water Board, woven in the Northern Netherlands in 1724 and around 1760 (cat. 113) and two armchairs with tapestry-woven upholstery with floral bouquets, possibly woven in Gouda around 1650-1670, originating from old city property (cat. 110). In addition, the municipality of Gouda owns six cushions and cushion covers featuring the Gouda coat of arms that can be found in the Gouda town hall (cat. 116) and of which the earliest was woven in Gouda in 1675, probably by Abraham Adriaensz Goossenson. Two of these were made in Amsterdam in 1752 and 1756 by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen, and three were manufactured in 1780 by Jacob II van der Borcht in Brussels. (Fig. 13)

Some important tapestries made in Delft can be found in the Museum Prinsenhof Delft. These are Scipio and the envoys from Carthage, after a design by Karel II van Mander, executed in the workshop of François Spiering, circa 1619-1620 (cat. 53) (Fig. 14) and the impressive tapestry featuring Porus Surrendering to Alexander, also designed by Karel II van Mander and executed in his own workshop in 1619 (cat. 52). Another tapestry owned by this museum, which is part of a series of The life of Caesar Augustus and was made in Antwerp around 1665-1688, was mistakenly thought in the past to have also been woven in Delft by François Spiering (cat. 60). The collection in the Museum Prinsenhof Delft also consists of various smaller tapestry-woven objects that were presumably made in Delft in the seventeenth century. A significant number of these possibly originated from Maximiliaan van der Gucht’s workshop. These include two Floral table carpets with biblical scenes from circa 1625-1650 (cat. 54) and a Table carpet with mythological scenes from around 1650 (cat. 55), a Strip of tapestry with strewn flowers from circa 1650-1670 (cat. 57) and Six Spanish chairs with tapestry-woven upholstery with floral bouquets or strewn flowers from about 1650-1670 (cat. 56). Also possibly manufactured in Delft by an anonymous workshop is a series of six cushions featuring scenes from the Story of Joseph, including a cushion with a scene from the Life of David within a floral wreath from about 1650-1675 (cat. 58) and a Cushion cover with symbolic representation of the College of the Groote Visscherij, belonging to the body that represented the interests of the herring fishery, from circa 1650-1740 (cat. 59).

The Amsterdam Museum’s tapestry collection can be divided into objects with an Amsterdam connection as well as some examples of tapestries produced in the Southern Netherlands and France. For example, it owns a tapestry from a series of the Story of Amadis and Oriane from circa 1717-1719, which features the signature of Alexander Baert and the Amsterdam city mark (cat. 27) (Fig. 15) and a cushion manufactured in the Northern Netherlands with a tapestry-woven application of the coat of arms of Frans Banninck Cocq, the main character in Rembrandt’s Nightwatch, from about 1648-1654 (cat. 23). Originating from old property of the Amsterdam town hall is a series of cushions with the Amsterdam coat of arms, woven by the Amsterdam workshop of the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in 1735 (cat. 28). The other tapestries in the collection were all donated to the museum at the same time. These are Millefleurs with two figures and animals, probably manufactured in the Southern Netherlands around 1650-1660 (cat. 24) and two pieces produced in Aubusson in France, a Landscape verdure with two cranes from circa 1680-1700 (cat. 26) and a Landscape verdure with two women catching birds from around 1675-1725 (cat. 25). Also woven in Aubusson around 1750-1760 is a Cushion with Orpheus and the animals, that originally served as upholstery for a chair and which was purchased by the museum (cat. 29).

The Dordrechts Museum/Huis van Gijn acquired six tapestries from a private collection. The oldest of these is a large fragment of a tapestry from a series of the Story of Julius Caesar after a design attributed to Pieter Coecke van Aelst and produced in Brussels around 1550 (cat. 98), and a tapestry depicting Jupiter and Juno, presumably also woven in Brussels around 1550-1560 (cat. 99). Dating from the seventeenth century are The judgement of Paris, possibly manufactured in Oudenaarde, circa 1670-1700 (cat. 103), Wild boar hunt and two coats of arms, circa 1600-1625, woven in Oudenaarde or Aubusson (cat. 100), as well as a Landscape verdure with falcon and dove, in the second half of the seventeenth century (cat. 101).

In 1953, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht acquired a tapestry of The Capture of Rome from a series depicting the Story of Alarik, manufactured in Aubusson in the second half of the seventeenth century (cat. 186). In addition, this museum boasts various cushions with coats of arms, thanks to a long-term loan. First of all, these are four cushions with the coat of arms of Rotterdam, of which three were probably woven by the Delft workshop of the Van der Gucht family in 1679, 1689 and around 1675-1700 and a fourth manufactured in 1740 by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam (cat. 187). There is also a Cushion with the Arms of Holland in the Hollandse Tuin, manufactured in the Northern Netherlands in around 1680-1700 (cat. 188), a Cushion cover with symbolic representation of the College of the Groote Visscherij, possibly woven in Delft around 1650-1740 (cat. 185) and a Cushion with the Arms of the Board of the Opperdijkgraaf and the local officials of the water board of Putten, or the Ring of Putten, manufactured in the Northern Netherlands, circa 1730-1750 (cat. 189).

Fig. 12
wandtapijtweverij van Joost Jansz. Lanckaert naar ontwerp van Hans Liefrinck (II) en naar ontwerp van Isaac Claesz. van Swanenburg
Het Ontzet van Leiden, 1587-1588
Leiden, Museum De Lakenhal, inv./cat.nr. 3358

Fig. 13
wandtapijtweverij van Jacques van der Borcht a Castro (II) naar ontwerp van Anoniem 1780
Kussenblad met het wapen van Gouda, 1780
Gouda, Stadhuis Gouda

Fig. 14
wandtapijtweverij van François Spiering naar ontwerp van Karel van Mander (II)
De overgave van Carthago, ca. 1619-1620
Delft, Museum Prinsenhof Delft, inv./cat.nr. B 56

Fig. 15
wandtapijtweverij van Alexander Baert (I) of wandtapijtweverij van Weduwe Alexander Baert en soonen naar ontwerp van Ludovicus van Schoor en naar ontwerp van Pieter Spierinckx (II)
Oriane ontvangt de krijgsbuit in het paleis van koning Lisuart, ca. 1717-1719
Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum, inv./cat.nr. KA13675

Various museums own collections of tapestry-woven objects that consist exclusively of cushions with the coat of arms of their own city, province or region. The oldest of these are Three cushions with the Civic Arms of De Rijp, made in 1632 in the Northern Netherlands, in Museum ‘In ‘t Houten Huis’ in De Rijp (cat. 83). The Stedelijk Museum Kampen owns Ten cushions with the Civic Arms of Kampen from 1676, probably woven by Maximiliaan van der Gucht in Delft (cat. 136). The Edams Museum has Two cushions with the coat of arms of the Purmer reclamation area, manufactured in Delft by Cornelis Coppens in 1679 (cat. 105). (Fig. 16) Het Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam owns Two cushions with the coat of arms of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, possibly also made in Delft by Maximiliaan van der Gucht, circa 1661-1700 (cat. 32). The Museum De Waag in Deventer has a Cushion with the coat of arms of Overijssel, woven by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam in 1750 (cat. 84).

The collection of the Haags Historisch Museum in The Hague includes a fairly significant variety of well-documented cushions with coats of arms. These are a series of Six cushions with the Civic Arms of The Hague by Maximiliaan van der Gucht in Delft in 1667 (cat. 72), Five cushions with the Civic Arms of The Hague flanked by red lions by Maximiliaan or Jacobus van der Gucht in Delft, around 1689-1705 (cat. 73), a Cushion with the Civic Arms of The Hague flanked by lions of a natural colour, made in The Hague in Alexander Baert’s workshop around 1706 (cat. 74), and Eight cushions with the Civic Arms of The Hague in a rococo cartouche after a design by Jan Baptist Xavery, woven by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam or by François Coppens in Delft from 1738-1739 (cat. 75).

Museum Rotterdam’s collection includes a Landscape verdure with panther hunt, woven in Oudenaarde, circa 1580-1600 (cat. 174), a variety of cushions with coats of arms, such as Three cushions with the Civic Arms of Rotterdam, manufactured by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam in 1750, 1763 and 1766 (cat. 180), a Cushion with the coat of arms of Holland in the Hollandse Tuin, woven in the Northern Netherlands, circa 1680-1700 (cat. 176), a Cushion with the symbolic representation of the College of the Groote Visscherij, possibly made in Delft in about 1650-1740 (cat. 175), a Cushion with the Arms of the Council of Flanders, woven in the Northern Netherlands, circa 1680-1720 (cat. 177), a Cushion with the Arms of the Admiralty of the Maze, manufactured in the Netherlands in 1709 (cat. 178) and a Cushion with the Arms of the Board of Opperdijkgraaf and the local officials of the water board of Putten, or the Ring of Putten, made in the Northern Netherlands, circa 1730-1750 (cat. 179). The collection of the former Stedelijk Museum Zwolle includes a Cushion with the Arms of Overijssel, by Alexander Baert from Amsterdam in 1718 (cat. 211).

Fig. 16
wandtapijtweverij van Cornelis Coppens (II) naar ontwerp van Gerard van Houten
Kussen met het wapen van de droogmakerij De Purmer, 1679
Edam, Edams Museum, inv./cat.nr. 830

Museums with collections of artists and collectors from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

In the museum established by artist couple Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sientje Mesdag-van Houten in The Hague, now De Mesdag Collectie, is a room which has been completely decorated with a series of Landscape verdures with animals, by Maximiliaan van der Gucht from Delft, circa 1675 (cat. 68). (Fig. 17) Another room displays two Italianate landscapes with mythological figures, manufactured in Oudenaarde, circa 1700-1750 (cat. 69). Also part of the Mesdag collection is a large fragment of a Brussels tapestry featuring the Triumph of the Seven Virtues from about 1650-1680 (cat. 67). A Landscape verdure with peacock by Maximiliaan van der Gucht from Delft, circa 1675 (cat. 119), which was originally part of the Mesdag-van Houten collection in The Hague, was donated to the Groninger Museum by a family member of the couple, artist Barbara Elisabeth van Houten. The latter museum also received a Brussels tapestry from the second half of the sixteenth century depicting Rebecca receives the gifts from Eliezer (cat. 118) from artist Geesje Mesdag-van Calcar, the Mesdags’ sister in law.

The donation of the collection from the Villa Frisia in The Hague belonging to artist couple Christoffel Bisschop and Kate Bisschop-Swift to the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden includes various tapestries and smaller tapestry-woven objects. First is a series of Landscape verdures by Maximiliaan van der Gucht from Delft, circa 1670-1689 (cat. 148), that used to grace Christoffel Bisschop’s workshop. (Fig. 18) Also included is an exceptional German Tapestry with two biblical scenes from 1589 (cat. 144) and a chimney valance with the coat of arms of an Amsterdam family, manufactured in the Northern Netherlands between 1618-1675 (cat. 146). Also woven in the Northern Netherlands are Two tapestry cushions with floral wreath and female figure, circa 1650-1675 (cat. 147), a Cushion with the Arms of the Board of Opperdijkgraaf and the local officials of the water board of Putten, or the Ring of Putten, circa 1670-1700 (cat. 149) and a Cushion with the Arms of the Court of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland, circa 1700-1770 (cat. 150). A Cushion with the Arms of Overijssel was manufactured by the Weduwe Alexander Baert en zonen in Amsterdam in 1735 (cat. 151). Finally, the collection contains a tapestry fragment with Medallion with unicorn in landscape, made in the Northern or Southern Netherlands in the first half of the seventeenth century (cat. 145).

The Singer Museum in Laren houses several tapestries and smaller tapestry-woven objects from the estate of the American collectors couple William and Anna Singer-Brugh, who befriended many artists. The collection includes a Landscape verdure with mythological scene, probably manufactured in Oudenaarde around 1700-1750 (cat. 143), a Landscape verdure with bird, from Aubusson or Felletin, from circa 1700-1750 (cat. 142), a Tapestry strip with vases with flowers and fruit and angel heads (probably an antependium), presumably made in Germany around 1600 (cat. 141), a Fragment of a vertical tapestry border, from the Southern Netherlands, circa 1550-1600 (cat. 140) and a Four-piece screen of tapestry fragments with landscapes, animals and rural scenes, believed to have been woven in Brussels around 1550-1575 (cat. 139).

Fig. 17
wandtapijtweverij van Maximiliaan van der Gucht naar ontwerp van Anoniem ca. 1675
Reeks landschapsverdures met dieren, ca. 1675
Den Haag, De Mesdag Collectie, inv./cat.nr. Inv. hwm0408-1A/1C/2A-E/3B-D

Fig. 18
wandtapijtweverij van Maximiliaan van der Gucht naar ontwerp van Peter Ykens
Landschapsverdure met Eurydice gebeten door een slang, ca. 1670-1689
Leeuwarden, Fries Museum, inv./cat.nr. T05876A

Other museum collections

A small proportion of the tapestries and tapestry-woven objects were acquired as (art) historical examples, but there are no real overviews anywhere.

The Kunstmuseum Den Haag houses a so-called period room with Three landscape verdures with animals manufactured by Alexander Baert in Amsterdam in about 1710 (cat. 81), which comes from an Amsterdam canal house. (Fig. 19) Additionally, this museum collected a Verdure, possibly woven in Enghien, circa 1530-1550 (cat. 76), a Large-leaved verdure from the Southern Netherlands, from around 1550-1575 (cat. 77), a Table carpet with floral wreath, possibly manufactured in Delft, circa 1650-1675 (cat. 79), a series of Three landscape verdures with hunting scenes, probably made in Aubusson between 1650 and 1700, which graced a house in The Hague in the nineteenth century (cat. 78) and The death of Cleopatra, woven in the Baert family workshop in Amsterdam in the first half of the eighteenth century (cat. 80).

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam quite recently acquired a tapestry featuring The Wrath of Achilles, probably from the editio princeps of the Story of Achilles after designs by Peter Paul Rubens, woven in Brussels between 1639 and 1642 (cat. 172), in conjunction with the design sketches for this tapestry series by Rubens already in their collection. Additionally, this collection consists of a tapestry with the Adoration of the Magi, possibly made in Brussels around 1510-1515 (cat. 168), a fragment with Millefleurs with animals (cat. 169) and a low tapestry with Scenes from the Life of Mary (cat. 170), both on loan from the RCE and woven in the Southern Netherlands in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, a Landscape verdure with hunting scenes, probably made in Enghien around 1575-1600 (cat. 171) and a tapestry of Earth based on a design by Charles Le Brun, manufactured in Brussels around 1700-1725 (cat. 173).

Fig. 19
wandtapijtweverij van Alexander Baert (I) naar ontwerp van Anoniem ca. 1710
Drie landschapsverdures met dieren, ca. 1710
Den Haag, Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Finally, there are some museums that own one, a few or a series of tapestries, for which the reason for the twentieth century acquisition can no longer be fully ascertained. Some are purchases, such as a series of six Landscape verdures with animals by Maximiliaan van der Gucht from Delft from around 1650 in the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede (cat. 107) and a Park landscape with two peacocks, manufactured in the Southern Netherlands or Aubusson in France, circa 1650-1700 in the Drents Museum in Assen (cat. 48). Two tapestries that had been on loan to the Museum Arnhem for some time were bequeathed to the museum, namely The Capture of Astyages by Cyrus from a series depicting the Story of Cyrus t, based on a design by Michiel Coxcie and manufactured in the Southern Netherlands around 1600 (cat. 46) and The Wrath of Achilles from the Story of Achilles after a design by Rubens and woven in Brussels by Jan I Raes, circa 1642-1651 (cat. 47). The Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht owns two tapestries from Oudenaarde from the early seventeenth century featuring Isaac carries the wood and The sacrifice of Isaac, which had already been the property of its predecessor, the Aartsbisshoppelijk Museum in Utrecht (Fig.20) Finally, the Museum Stad Appingedam at one point acquired a large fragment of a Landscape Verdure, made in Aubusson around 1675-1700 (cat. 45), which came from an estate located near this city.

Fig. 20
wandtapijtweverij van Anoniem ca. 1600 naar ontwerp van Anoniem ca. 1600
Isaak draagt het hout, ca. 1600
Utrecht, Museum Catharijneconvent, inv./cat.nr. ABM t2099

The Dutch National Art Collection

No systematic collection of tapestries has been built for the Dutch National Art Collection. The RCE’s tapestry collection is mainly intended for the decoration of government buildings, predominantly embassies, and consists of an occasional acquisition or donation from private property. There are also tapestries and tapestry-woven objects that belong to the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, with works that fell to the state after World War II, such as the Mannheimer Collection, or works that had been left behind by the German occupiers. Some of these are also housed in museums.

The Dutch Embassy in Brussels is home to a Landscape verdure with flute-playing shepherdess, produced in Aubusson, circa 1730-1760 (cat. 19). There is a tapestry in the Dutch ambassador’s residence in Washington featuring an Unidentified scene with Two Kings, probably woven in Oudenaarde around 1600 (cat. 8). The Dutch ambassador’s residence in Paris houses a Landscape verdure with ostrich hunt, made in Oudenaarde around 1580-1600 (cat. 5), a Forest view with hunting scenes, probably manufactured in Oudenaarde during the same period (cat. 6) and a series of three Park landscapes which can be attributed to the Delft workshop of François Coppens, circa 1700 (cat. 11).

The Millefleurs with scene of noblemen during the hunt and shepherds, woven in the Southern Netherlands around 1495-1525, comes from the Mannheimer collection in Amsterdam and can now be found in Museum Radboud in Medemblik (cat. 4). (Fig. 21) From the same collection is a set of tapestry-woven furniture upholstery with military scenes after designs by Francesco Casanova by the Manufacture de Beauvais from around 1800-1802 in Het Markiezenhof in Bergen op Zoom (cat. 21). (Fig. 22) Also from the Mannheimer collection are two cushions with the coat of arms of Gorinchem from 1717 and 1720, probably made by Alexander Baert and his widow in Amsterdam, now in the Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch (cat. 17), and a cushion with the coat of arms of Brielle, possibly woven in Delft, circa 1675-1725 (cat. 50), now in the Historisch Museum Den Briel in Brielle.

Also part of Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit are a Landscape verdure with horseman, possibly from Oudenaarde, around 1700-1725, now in the Werkendam town hall (cat. 12), a Landscape verdure with ducks, manufactured in the Northern Netherlands, circa 1660-1680, now in Kasteel Hoensbroek (cat. 9), and a Landscape verdure with animals, woven in Oudenaarde or Aubusson around 1700-1750, that was stolen in 1988 (cat. 15). The CollectieCentrum Nederland in Amersfoort houses an Unidentified scene from Oudenaarde, circa 1600 (cat. 7), a Grotesque with an allegorical female figure, executed in Schwabach in Germany between 1716 and 1740 (cat. 16) and a Landscape with ducks, swan, hunting dog and goat made in Oudenaarde in the second quarter of the eighteenth century (cat. 18).

Also currently in Amersfoort are a Landscape verdure with two peasant women with a goat, woven in Oudenaarde, circa 1700-1735 (cat. 13), a tapestry depicting Byblis turning into a spring, from the Southern Netherlands around 1700-1725 (cat. 14), which belongs to the same series as three Landscape verdures with scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Slot Zeist, the Landscape verdure with Juno, Minerva and Venus, probably manufactured in Aubusson around 1750 (cat. 20) and a Landscape verdure with birds from Oudenaarde from about 1670-1700 (cat. 10).

Fig. 21
wandtapijtweverij van Anoniem Southern Netherlands (hist. region) 1495-1525 naar ontwerp van Anoniem Southern Netherlands (hist. region) 1495-1525
Millefleurs met tafereel met edellieden tijdens de jacht en herders, 1495-1525
Medemblik, Kasteel Radboud

Fig. 22
wandtapijtweverij van Manufacture De Beauvais en wandtapijtweverij van Anoniem France ca. 1789-1830 naar ontwerp van Francesco Casanova en naar ontwerp van Jean-Baptiste Huet (I) en naar ontwerp van Anoniem France ca. 1789-1830
Ameublement met militaire voorstellingen en bloeiende planten in landschappen, ca. 1789-1830
Bergen op Zoom, Historisch Centrum Het Markiezenhof, inv./cat.nr. NK 2746-B-G, NK 2746-J, NK 2746-A, NK 2746-H, NK 2746-I