Aubusson

Delicately embroidered naturalistic blossoms and floral sprays are expressed in an exquisitely refined pastel palette in this large and definitive example of the French Aubusson decorative style most favoured and appropriate to the Chinese needlepoint technique. While needlepoint originated in England and was widely practiced in northern Europe from the Elizabethan period onwards, it was rapidly assimilated into the ancient Chinese repertoire of embroidery and related textile arts during the time of Britain's ascendancy in the Far East, which ended with the Boxer Rebellion. This opulent embroidered hanging or spread reveals the strong French influence in both colour and ornament that was positively developed during OCM's domination of Chinese hand textile arts, when the company identified the move towards pastel interior ornament rather than the darker and more dramatic tonal contrasts which characterised the English needlepoint tradition.