The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Tapestry panel in muted yellows, golds, and light-blues centering a vase on a pedestal overflowing with flowers against a yellow background. Below, two spotted big cats flank the base of the pedestal, pouncing among woven cornucopia's, or horns, overflowing with grapes in shades of green. Above the flowers, a gold circle frames blue, a bar running across on which a red and blue feathered bird perches. Over this hangs two coats of arms in an oval frame with a crown on top.

Savonnerie Panel: Autumn

c. 1717
manufacturer

Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops

(French, est. 1627)
France, 18th century
knotted pile, silk and wool
Overall: 297.2 x 218.5 cm (117 x 86 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1946.247
Location: 215 French, German, and Dutch

Description

Courtiers and aristocrats anxious to model their lifestyles on the king also commissioned works from the same state manufactories that produced tapestries, carpets, and upholstery for the French monarchy. Established in the early 1600s, the Savonnerie factory provided both domestic furnishings for the king’s palaces and diplomatic gifts for foreign heads of state. The double coat of arms in this tapestry suggests that it was made for a count and countess who married in 1717. One of a group of four tapestries depicting the seasons, this work depicts the abundant harvest of fall. The Cleveland Museum of Art rotates this tapestry with another from this group. The other two tapestries in the suite can be seen at the Toledo Museum of Art.
  • formed part of original suite of tapestries and furniture made for marriage of Countess Isabella de Merode-Westerloo and Franz Joseph Czernin de Chaudnitz in 1717; remained in the family until 1930 or 1931, when they were sold to a dealer. (A. & R. Ball, New York).
  • Underhill, Gertrude. "A Savonnerie Panel: Autumn." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 1 (January 1947): 7-8, 13. Mentioned: p. 7; Reproduced: p. 10-11 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned: cat. no. 291 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 133
  • Gallery 215 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 14, 2010-June 27, 2011); (June 10, 2013-May 22, 2014); (June 27, 2016-November 26, 2018).
    Winter Exhibition 1968: France in the Eighteenth Century. Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (January 6-March 3, 1968).
    France in the 18th Century. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (January 5-March 3, 1968).
    The Age of Excellence: Rococo and It's Effect. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (April 25-June 14, 1959).
    Five Centuries of History Mirrored in Five Centuries of French Art. Pavillon de la France, 1939 New York World's Fair, New York (1939).
    Three French Reigns: Louis XIV, XV and XVI. London, UK (February 21-April 5, 1933).
  • {{cite web|title=Savonnerie Panel: Autumn|url=false|author=Royal Savonnerie Manufactory, Chaillot Workshops|year=c. 1717|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.247