Some Chinoiserie in Lewes – John Vanderbank’s Chinois Tapestry

Posted: July 30th, 2023 | No Comments »

Visited Lewes in East Sussex and the Anne of Cleves house so wasn’t expecting a China connection or any Chinoiserie. Ready for an immersion into Tudor life in this wonderfully preserved fifteenth century house given to Anne after her short-lived marriage to Henry VIII (though apparently she never actually lived there). But…

The house happens to include this late seventeenth/early eighteenth century “Soho” tapestry (so called as they were made in the Soho area of London). This one was actually made by John Vanderbank, whose studio was in the Long Acre/Holborn area. He often manufactured for the “Great Wardrobe” – the department tasked with supplying items to royal households. Vanderbank was apparently known for his “Indian Manner”, more commonly known now as early Chinoiserie. You can see that the characters portrayed in this imaginary East, Cathay, China can appear Indian in Chinese garb while others sit in traditional Indian poses. In other details more obviously Chinese scenes are depicted.

Obviously Vanderbank didn’t know China personally but was working from early lithographs of Chinese and Indian scenes that made their way to England.

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