17th Century Flemish Botanical Tapestry Pillow With Fruit Motif

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This exceptional antique lumbar pillow is fashioned from a 17th-century Flemish tapestry fragment, preserving a richly colored section of an … Read more This exceptional antique lumbar pillow is fashioned from a 17th-century Flemish tapestry fragment, preserving a richly colored section of an early European woven composition. The surviving design appears to depict an arrangement of large fruits surrounded by sweeping foliage and decorative forms, creating a bold botanical composition characteristic of the elaborate decorative vocabulary found in historic Flemish tapestries.

The fragment is particularly striking for its oversized rounded fruit forms, which stretch across the elongated surface of the pillow. Deeply curved leaves and stems weave between the fruits, while a broad rust-red element sweeps diagonally through the composition and adds movement to the design. A small geometric woven passage toward the upper portion provides an additional layer of visual detail.

The centuries-old palette is beautifully subdued, combining deep indigo blue, dark teal, forest green, sage green, olive, antique gold, ochre, camel, tobacco brown, tan, beige, muted rust red, terracotta, and burgundy. Natural fading and wear have softened these colors into a sophisticated, earthy palette with considerable depth and variation. See less