VERY RARE embroidered COURTEPOINTE or Palampore hanging, Ind - Lot 331

VERY RARE embroidered COURTEPOINTE or Palampore hanging, India (Deccan), for the Mogul court or export markets, 1st half of the 18th century. Richly decorated with a central tree of life, its branches filled with fauna (peacocks, parrots, a pair of roosters facing each other, snakes, butterflies) and exotic flora (Indian flowers, carnations, pomegranates or lotuses, Saz-type leaves). Two small monkeys at root level, on a scaled mound inhabited by the traditional hunting bestiary of Mughal India (cheetah, tiger, gazelle, goat, antelope, dragon). Flowered vases in the spandrels and alternating scrolls and giant flowers on the borders. Twill-woven linen and cotton futures, pastel-embroidered in brightly colored polychrome silk threads and silver metallic threads in the couching (heart of the flowers). Lined with cotton wadding and silk braid trimmings for use as a portière since the 19th century. Here we find the traditional iconography of early palampores, with flowering vases in the spandrels, tree of life and scaled mound, destined for the English and Dutch markets via their East India Company, but the typical aesthetic of Mughal India inspired by Safavid art may also suggest a production intended for a local sultan's court. Bibl: To be compared with an Indian embroidered carpet presented by the Francesca Galloway Art Gallery. Exhibition: Asian Art in London from October 30 to November 7, 2014. Dimensions: 2.35 x 3.20 m (assembly of 3 widths of 77 cm on average, with no visible selvedge). Condition: fragile, restoration needed on the spindled and torn background. Brown discoloration of cotton, stain on lower right quarter. Provenance: preserved since the end of the 18th century in the descendants of the Frenchman François Fidèle RIPAUD de MONTODEVERT, privateer captain on the vessel "Le Volcan de Mascarin" in 1793, with whom he made numerous piratical catches on ships belonging to the English East India Company (the Charleston and the United Kingdom) from the Ile Bourbon (Reunion Island) and the Ile de France (Mauritius), where he was based. EXPERT: Séverine Experton-Dard (Heritage Textile & Fashion Expert) - E-mail: sedxpert@gmail.com - Tel. 06 80 65 12 18