Hi Betsy,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

European tapestries such as the ones that were made in the 16th and 17th Century in France and the Netherlands were later copied as part of the Renaissance Revival, a 19th-century architectural and decorative arts movement that looked back to the forms, ornament, and ideals of the Italian and French Renaissance (roughly the 15th–16th centuries). Emerging in the 1840s and remaining popular into the early 20th century, it was part of a broader fascination with historic styles that also included Gothic Revival and Rococo Revival.

The movement was significant because it allowed the rapidly growing industrial and commercial elite of Europe and America to associate themselves with the prestige of Renaissance culture. Renaissance Revival design symbolized wealth, education, refinement, and historical continuity. It also encouraged museums, collectors, and manufacturers to study and reproduce historical styles, helping to shape the modern fields of art history, historic preservation, and decorative arts scholarship.

By the early 20th century, Renaissance Revival gradually gave way to newer styles such as Modernism and Art Deco, but it remains one of the most influential historic revival styles of the Victorian and Gilded Age eras.

When one is talking about tapestries, Flemish tapestries - produced primarily in the cities of Brussels, Bruges, Tournai, and Audenarde are generally considered the pinnacle of European tapestry weaving. Characteristics of Flemish tapestries include large-scale historical, biblical, mythological, and allegorical subjects, extraordinary detail and realism, often based on designs by major artists, rich colors, complex perspective, and lifelike figures, the frequent use of silk, and in luxury examples, gold and silver-wrapped threads and borders filled with fruit, flowers, architectural motifs, or symbolic imagery.

On the other hand, Aubusson tapestries, made in and around Aubusson France, are characterized by lighter, more decorative compositions, pastoral landscapes, garden scenes, romantic subjects, and floral designs, softer color palettes, and less emphasis on dramatic realism and more on decorative elegance in which they were often designed to harmonize with interior decoration rather than dominate a room.

Whereas Flemish tapestries usually tell a story, Aubusson tapestries create an atmosphere.

You have a Renaissance Revival Aubusson-style tapestry panel, which was probably made in Europe, though by the mid 20th Century there were adequate weavers working in the US. The best workshops were careful to protect their legacies by signing or labeling their work; I don't see either in these photos.

This may well have been made around the time your great-grandparents' home was built in 1927. The wear it shows is typical of other tapestries of similar age, showing some fading. possibly uneven, small tears or losses to the weave and minor areas of discoloration. The backing is probably original and the multiple loops at the top would have provided adequate support over the past almost 100 years (it's not uncommon for tapestries to show extensive sagging as the weight of the fabric can pull on the tops and sides.

The market for these tapestries is not as strong as it used to be and if this were coming to auction today, based on what other similar tapestries have been selling for recently, I would expect this to sell for between $600 and $1,200. Note that these fair market values will be lower than retailers or private sellers have priced any similar tapestries they are selling.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

A near antique Aubusson style verdure tapestry panel
In the French taste, unattributed maker, early 20th Century
Depicting a lush landscape with buildings, flowers, trees and a squirrel, with hanging loops at the top, pendant fringe at the bottom, and backed on the reverse. Unsigned.
63 inches tall by 72 inches wide
CONDITION: this appears to be in all-original condition with some expectant fading, minor discoloration and minor losses.
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$ 600-1,200*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia