Tapestry: Le Retour de la chasse, from L'Histoire de l'empereur de la Chine Series

In a tapestry from the series known as The Story of the Emperor of China, a terraced outdoor pavilion is the setting for the return from the hunt. The emperor, still wearing his quiver and holding his bow, leads the empress down the carpeted steps to show her the catch of game: a deer, waterfowl, and other birds. Behind them stands a large, elaborate throne with sphinxes at each armrest and carved, winged dragons on top. Peacock feathers fan from the crest, and jewels line its upper edge.

The double arcade that arches over the throne is a whimsical structure created by the Beauvais artists rather than an authentic Chinese form. This fantastic architecture with its spindly Gothic ornament may have inspired designers of the late 1700s and early 1800s who copied the mixture of Gothic and Far Eastern motifs. This series may be one of the earliest examples of the emerging chinoiserie style, in which Westerners employed exotic Chinese forms combined with European motifs.

These tapestries are from a series called The Story of the Emperor of China, featuring imagined Chinese scenes. The Getty has six other tapestries from this same set: La Collation, La Récolte es ananas, Les Astronomes, L’Empereur en voyage, Le Thé de l’impératrice, and L’Embarquement de l’impératrice.