NEEDLEWORK VALANCE PANEL FRAGMENT
EARLY 17TH CENTURY
£4,536
Auction: Day One: 17 May 2023 | From 11:00
Description
worked in wool and silk with a central tree bearing fruit with a bird perched amongst the branches; flanked by large flower-filled vases; the background filled with parterres and formal gardens, with a church in the distance, and a domed pergola with a rose walkway and trellis arch to the edges; the foreground with animals including a squirrel, rabbits, a tortoise, a hen pecking a worm, and a fox with its kit; all within a brown line border
Dimensions
77cm wide, 28cm high approx.
Footnote
Note: This panel was originally part of a long bed valance, and the motifs employed appear frequently on valances in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Some images, like the hen pecking the worm, appear in emblem books which were frequently used as a source for designs. These emblems were often accompanied by moral sayings or poems which would have been understood by the educated at that time. Even today we recognise 'the early bird catches the worm'.