79231 Vintage Chinese Aubusson Tapestry, 08'07 x 09'07.
Woven in homage to the allegorical splendor of 18th-century France, this handwoven wool vintage Chinese Aubusson tapestry is a masterwork of romantic storytelling, rendered through the enduring artistry of mid-20th-century Chinese ateliers. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the scene captures the mythic courtship of Zephyrus and Flora with lyrical sensitivity. Draped in flowing robes of rose and ivory, Flora reclines in serene command as the goddess of flowers, her posture imbued with quiet power. Approaching her with an air of urgent grace is Zephyrus, the west wind embodied, clad in a crimson cloak that ripples like the breeze he commands. A slender greyhound stands alert at their feet, a timeless emblem of fidelity, bridging the mythological with the terrestrial.
The background unfurls in a sumptuous cascade of painterly detail: arboreal silhouettes swaying in unseen gusts, rolling hills that dissolve into golden mist, and the softened contours of a classical ruin touched by time and light. Executed in a palette of moss green, powdered rose, celadon, soft sky blue, and burnished gold, the composition echoes the refined chromatic sensibilities of Louis XVI-era Aubusson tapestries. The floral and martial motifs woven into the border—roses, quivers, and gleaming helms—invite an interplay of tenderness and valor, perfectly capturing the Rococo fascination with mythologized nature and noble virtue.
Though created in China during the mid-20th century, this majestic one-of-a-kind tapestry stands as a global homage to the height of French decorative elegance. Chinese weavers, commissioned to bring magnificent European aesthetics to Western markets, meticulously honored the proportions, brushstroke effects, and muted tonality that define classical Aubusson. The flat-woven technique, performed in fine wool, allows every feathered gesture and flowering tendril to appear delicately brushed rather than woven—testament to the artisans' precision and cultural fluency. In this way, the precious tapestry becomes not only a tribute to a particular myth but also a cross-cultural act of devotion to timeless beauty.
Whether hung as the focal point in a refined salon or layered within a curated gallery wall, this exquisite work of art conjures a mythopoetic world where love, longing, and divine grace are forever suspended in soft vegetal hues. It is a woven ode to the eternal flirtation between nature and deity, captured with the finesse of Old World craftsmanship and reimagined through the lens of global artistry. With each thread, it whispers of eternal spring, of fragrant gardens kissed by warm winds, and of the immortal union between poetry and loom.
- Abrash.
- Handwoven wool.
- Made in China.
- Measures: 08'07 x 09'07.
- Pile Height: 0.20 of an inch.
- Date: 1950's. Mid-20th Century.
