Decorative arts

The Luncheon

Type: Decorative arts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1756
Accession number: 9.5
Makers: Beauvais Tapestry Manufactory(Opens in new tab) (French, 1664–1664); André Charlemagne Charron(Opens in new tab) (French, 1757–1780)
After: Jean-Baptiste Oudry(Opens in new tab) (French, 1686–1755)
Designer: François Boucher(Opens in new tab) (French, 1703–1770)
Dimensions: 130 x 132 in. (330.2 x 335.3 cm.)
Medium: wool and silk with linen lining and dust band
Description: The tapestry depicts four adults and three children enjoying a picnic among ruins within an open wooded landscape.
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department: European Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

Label text

This set of five tapestries was woven by order of the French crown on behalf of Louis XV. The pastoral scenes, depicting pleasurable outdoor activities such as picnics and music-making, were popular subjects among the French elite. The Beauvais manufactory wove thirteen separate commissions of full or partial sets of The Noble Pastoral, but today The Huntington’s set is the only one to remain intact. Purchased by Henry Huntington in 1909, at Arabella’s request, they were his first major expenditure on art.

The Luncheon

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