Both woven in wool, silk and metal thread, depicting Spring and Summer from the series Enfants Jardiniers
The tapestry with children and a watering can: 113 in. (287.5 cm.) high, 99 in. (251.5 cm.) wide

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Lot Essay

The playful theme of children engaging in adult professions spans centuries and media in European art. In the arena of French tapestry, such themes were already well established by the early eighteenth century, as witnessed by the fine series executed at Aubusson after drawings by Michel Corneille (1602-1664), illustrated in D. Chevalier, et al., Les Tapisseries d'Aubusson et de Felletin, Lausanne, 1988, p. 78. The Stream Family tapestries belong to the series Enfants Jardiniers, which were produced after drawings by Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), drawing on his Saisons series and depicting child gardeners at work on the tasks of each season. Eight tapestry sets were produced on this theme, with the first six each comprising six panels: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, a large Spring panel, of which our Spring tapestry is a fragment, and a small Autumn panel (see F. Joubert, et al., Histoire de la Tapisserie en Europe, du Moyen Age à nos Jours, Paris, 1995, p. 201). The first and second tapestries were created at Gobelins before 1685 for Colbert, and purchased by Louis XIV himself to be given as gifts to the ambassadors of Muscovy. Numerous complete and fragmented examples of the entire series now survive at the Mobilier National. These include versions of Summer (inv. nos. GT118/002, GT120 and GT121) and fragments of Spring (GMTT 398 and GMTT430). Starting in 1717, the seventh and eighth panels, each comprising five pieces, were created based on new designs by Mathieu, Yvart, Chastelain, Fontenay, and Desportes. Most recently, a group of four tapestries from Enfants Jardiniers was sold Christie’s, Paris, 20 April 2023, lot 630.