5 x 6 Renoir Odalisque Reproduction Tapestry 73695

73695 Imperial Harem Odalisque Renoir Reproduction Tapestry, 04'08 x 06'04.

Woven in homage to the lush imaginings of 19th-century Orientalist painters, this handwoven wool tapestry from China unfolds as a visual reverie—an opulent stage where fantasy and sensuality converge. Drawing inspiration from the erotic reveries of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gustave Leonard de Jonghe, and the exotic tableaux of Rudolf Ernst, this composition offers an imagined glimpse into the secluded chambers of an imperial Ottoman harem. At its heart, two women dominate the scene: the reclining figure, regal and languid, luxuriates on a divan dressed in sumptuous robes of ivory and indigo, her form partially draped across a tiger pelt—its snarling visage a silent testament to conquest and dominance. At her feet lies an oud, the curved-stringed instrument of courtly delight, hinting at pleasures both auditory and intimate.

The architectural framing reinforces the romanticized mystique: carved Islamic arches with delicate latticework open onto a wall stenciled in stylized floral motifs, evoking the painted chambers of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace. Suspended between the arches, a richly adorned hanging lantern glows with imagined fire, its Moorish form casting unseen shadows across marble and silk. This interplay of architecture and ornament acts as a proscenium, framing not merely the figures but the fantasy itself—the Western projection of an East that exists only through a veil of incense and desire.

The attending ikbal servant, poised in mid-step, adds narrative tension to the tableau. Clad in embroidered red robes cinched at the waist, she balances a brass ewer in one hand, her body subtly inclined toward her mistress in a gesture of deference. Her bare arms and adorned ankles, her beaded coiffure and lowered gaze, embody a stylized submission that typifies the era's Orientalist aesthetic—one that merges romantic indulgence with veiled power structures. She is not merely an attendant but an extension of the tableau’s erotic rhythm, echoing the languor of the scene while poised in quiet readiness.

This tapestry is less a literal document and more a woven mirage—a sumptuous echo of Western fantasies of the East during the height of 19th-century imperialism. Woven in China yet conceived through the lens of Parisian salons, it occupies a curious place in the decorative arts, where pastiche becomes performance. Every thread is a nod to the painters who reveled in this genre, their brushstrokes now translated into warp and weft. It is both artwork and artifact, bearing witness not only to the opulence it depicts but also to the colonial gaze that gave it life.

• Abrash.
• Handwoven wool.
• Made in China.
• Measures: 04'08 x 06'04.