The Charlatan/The Magic Lantern
Maker
Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory
(active 1664, combined with Gobelins 1940)
MakerUnder the direction of
Jean-Baptiste Oudry
(French, 1686 - 1755)
Makeror under the directorship of
Andre-Charlemagne Charron
(French)
Maker
François Boucher
, designer (French, 1703 - 1770)
Additional Title(s)
- The Charlatan and the Peep Show
- The Italian Village Scenes
- L'Opérateur/La Curiosité
ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS
Dateca. 1738-1754
Mediumwool and silk; modern linen support straps, dust bands, and linings
Dimensions107 1/2 x 194 1/2 in. (273.1 x 494 cm.)
DescriptionThis tapestry is part of a set of five tapestries portraying Italian village scenes. It portrays two main scenes in an outdoor setting with Classical ruins. In the first one, a traveling salesman in oriental garb shows his wares. In the second one, a woman engages in a peep show looking through a hole in a wooden structure, helped by a young man standing in front of her and her child.
SignedOn block to the left, simulating an inscription, is the name "BOUVCHER"
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection.
Label TextBoucher was already well established as a painter, engraver, and theatrical designer when he turned his talents to tapestry in the 1730s. This suite of five tapestries was inspired by his travels in rural Italy. Boucher designed six suites of tapestries for the Beauvais Manufactory over two decades. The Italian Village Scenes was his first suite; an example of his last suite, The Noble Pastorale, hangs downstairs in the Large Library.Status
On viewObject number27.127
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
Tapestry woven covers ca. 1779; frames of nineteenth-century before 1892; modern
Object number: 9.27
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
tapestry covers: mid 18th Century; chair frames: 19th Century
Object number: 9.29
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
Tapestry woven covers ca. 1779; frames of nineteenth-century before 1892; modern
Object number: 9.30
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
Tapestry woven covers ca. 1779; frames of nineteenth-century before 1892; modern
Object number: 9.31
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
Tapestry woven covers ca. 1779; frames of nineteenth-century before 1892; modern
Object number: 9.20
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
Tapestry woven covers ca. 1779; frames of nineteenth-century before 1892; modern
Object number: 9.21
Gobelins Tapestry Manufactory
Tapestry woven covers ca. 1779; frames of nineteenth-century before 1892; modern
Object number: 9.22