Walking through the banquet hall of Akershus Castle, it is hard to miss our striking tapestry called The Ninepins. The tapestry is much less faded than what is usually the case with works of this age. Thus more of its original splendour is still intact to be viewed and admired.
Inspired by the imagery of Flemish artists David Teniers II (1610 - 1690) and his son David III (1638 -1685), this prevalent genre of wall hangings came to be known as Teniers. A genre that covered scenes of nature with peasants at work and play. Only a few designs could later be ascribed back to the painters. Thus in this context Teniers describes a genre and a tradition, more than a piece of art from a particular artist.
Teniers tapestries were immensely popular and they were made in all of the important centres of tapestry production like Brussels, Oudenaarde, Beauvais, Madrid, London and in this case, Lille. The Teniers tapestries’ popularity began in the last third of the seventeenth century and peaked in the eighteenth century.
The genre scenes may seem realistic, but do not show any of the suffering and hardship in the life of the farmer. The works aimed to depict the pleasures of country people’s life and their closeness to nature in a romantic way. Just how the upper class preferred to imagine what a farmer’s life would be. In general, they are scenes of country-folk portrayed in their activities and particularity in their leisure time. The pictures are of a stereotyped nature, with groups of people set in a flat area, surrounded by tall trees and flanked on the left or right side by a house, usually a tavern depicted in a slanting perspective.
By the mid 17 century, French tapestry manufacturers began challenging the long-standing dominance of the Flemish industry. After being conquered by King Louis XIV’s in 1667, the city of Lille became an important centre of French tapestry production.
Many weavers emigrated from Flanders. Guillaume Werniers (Wernier or Warniers) was born in Brussels and arrived in Lille in 1700. He inherited the workshop after his father-in-law, Jean de Melter, and worked there until he died in 1738.
Werniers put his signature on many tapestries and had two sets of models for Teniers; one consisted of well worked out scenes, surrounded by elegant borders with farming equipment, like the Ninepins tapestry in our collection. Another was of a much coarser weaving and design, usually surrounded by a simple frame of monochrome acanthus leaves.
When Werniers died in 1738, his widow and second wife, Cathrine Guys, took over the business. At the time of his death, Guillaume Werniers’s workshop numbered more than twenty looms. His widow maintained this level of activity and, like her husband, produced many Teniers tapestries. The enterprising Widow Werniers managed the workshop for forty years after her husband’s death.
Teniers - Scenes of country life - The Ninepins.
Werniers’ scenes of Teniers are known to be a complete set of eight tapestries. They all depicted separate themes known as; Village fête, Game of cards, Harvest of the Garden and Field, The Shepherd, The Spinner, The Ninepins, Country activities and one with an unknown title. Akershus Castle’s collection only contains The Ninepins.
The scene depicts a group of farmers or country folks gathered in an open field for relaxation and play. To our right, a couple is filling mugs from a barrel of wine or ale and passing drinks around. On the top of a barrel is a stack of loaves of bread. Men, women, children and a dog are enjoying the fresh summer evening under a canopy of green leaves and with plenty of food, drinks and games. The men are smoking pipes and playing the quills in French, or Ninepins English, a form of bowling known in Europe since the middle ages and still popular today. Halfway visible through the greenery is a cottage, and behind it, we glimpse the top of the roofs of what may be a village. Through the landscape runs a road, where a carriage drawn by three horses is approaching, maybe to join the party. In the far distance is a mansion or a castle.
Four different designs of borders are known. This tapestry’s border picks up and continues the theme of country life, with interwoven flowers and vegetables, ducks and hens, farmers’ tools, and musical instruments.
The quality and depiction of the landscapes and the perfect integration of the figures in the composition make it a masterpiece within the Flemish tradition of the art of tapestry. After all, Lille was a part of Flanders and came under French rule only in 1667.
Thomas P. Campbell, Tapestry in the Baroque Threads of Splendor, 2007, s. 458
Delmarcel; Guy. Flemish Tapestry. New York: Harry N. Abrahams Inc, 2000.
Nello Forti Grazzini. Il Patrimonio artistico del Quuirinal, 1994
Nicole de Reyniès, ‘’II. The French Tapestries’’, The Toms Collection Tapestries, 2010