10th- to 11th-Century Musical Instruments and Woven Textile Fragment by Nicolas-Xavier Willemin

10th- to 11th-Century Musical Instruments and Woven Textile Fragment

Designed, drawn, and engraved entirely by Nicolas-Xavier Willemin (1763–1839) (Willemin del. & sculp.), this exquisite hand-colored print executed in 1866 documents decorative artifacts spanning the 10th and 11th centuries (Monumens du X.me au XI.me Siècle). The upper section illustrates figure studies and musical instruments (Instrumens de Musique) derived from an enamelled basin discovered near Soissons (Tirés d'un Bassin d'émail trouvé à une 1/2 Lieue de Soissons), showing seated and standing figures playing small harps alongside two stringed instruments. Directly beneath this register is a profile line drawing of the basin itself, noted as held in the Bibliothèque Impériale. The lower section features a detailed rendering of a woven gold and silk textile fragment (Etoffe d'or et de Soye) decorated with rosettes, scrolling borders, and roundels enclosing lions and eagles, which was unearthed from a tomb in the main chapel of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. This plate was published in Willemin’s monumental work Monuments français inédits pour servir à l'histoire des arts depuis le VIe siècle jusqu'au commencement du XVIIe.

Created during the rise of 19th-century Romanticism and the French Gothic Revival, this work forms part of a pioneering effort to systematically record and preserve France's medieval material heritage. Auguste-Xavier Leprince and artists like A. Giroux worked alongside Nicolas-Xavier Willemin to document early French art history and archaeology, with a focus on capturing medieval sculpture, architectural reliefs, and manuscript illuminations. This specific plate holds immense historical importance in organology (the study of musical instruments) and art history; by combining architectural relief details from Chartres Cathedral with manuscript studies from the Bibliothèque Impériale and Belgian archives, Willemin provided invaluable comparative documentation of 12th-century Romanesque instrument design long before the advent of photographic reproduction.

Dimensions: H 17 ¼” x 11” W

Condition: A few minor tears at the edges