unrecorded artist, Noble Festivities Wall Panel, about 1700. Linen; silk and wool thread embroidery; 111 1/2 in x 47 3/4 in. Neusteter Textile Collection at the Denver Art Museum: Volunteer Endowment Funds by Exchange from Mrs. McIntosh Buell, 1999.21.

height: 111 1/2 in, 283.2100 cm; width: 47 3/4 in, 121.2850 cm

Avenir Institute of Textile Arts and Fashion

Textile Arts and Fashion-European

This embroidery presents a rare glimpse of the leisurely life of late-seventeenth-century nobles. At top, a host greets his guests in front of his stately home; below, a fashionably dressed couple enjoys musical entertainment in the garden. The lavish outdoor feast, shown next, includes spit-roasted meat (attentively watched by a spotted dog) and a selection of wines and beverages in a basin, kept cool in a pond. After-dinner dancing to the accompaniment of two musicians follows in the garden.

Purchased March 1999 from Francesca Galloway [London] by the Denver Art Museum

• "Textile Art: Recent Acquisitions," December 16, 2000 - June 17, 2001 (DAM)