Firebacks

Description: Rectangular with fillet edging; central, oval panel with fillet edging containing the semi-reclining, begowned figure of Cleopatra, a mirror/sceptre in her right hand and an asp in her left hand; oval border with astragal and fillet edging and undulating foliage; in each of the top spandrels, a face of a putto; in the bottom spandrels, a triangular design of swirled foliage; at the centre of each side, overlapping the central oval border, an oval cartouche with scrolls in the inward facing side; four horizontal plank lines regularly spaced.

Notes: The naivety of the figuration and the similarity of the scrolled designs suggest that this may be the work of the same pattern-maker as the Lenard fireback. Three tapestries of the death of Cleopatra, one of them made for the Swedish royal court, were inspired by artwork by Karel van Mander II (1579-1623), which is likely to have been the inspiration for this fireback as well.