Engraving and etching by Sebastien Le Clerc, Fire, reproduction of a Gobelins tapestry after Charles Le Brun; French 1670.

Representation of Fire, one of the four elements, showing Vulcan at his forge watched by Venus and Jupiter seated on a cloud with Cupid below. Vulcan is surrounded by metalware, including weaponry and armour. Jupiter holds a shield showing a sun and crown emblem. Two love? birds and an eagle are also in the air nearby.

Around the image is an ornamental printed frame comprised of silverware, weaponry, armour and forgers' tools arranged like a trophy decorative device. Within the border in each corner are circular cartouches with images; lower left a lighthouse, upper left an incense-burner, upper right a firework (rocket) and lower right lightning striking a tree. Rectangular cartouches in the centre of the sides show an image, left, of a walled town, and right, a townscape with monument in the foreground. In the centre, top, is a shield with fleur-de-lis and a dragon on either side. In the centre, bottom, is a panel with inscription, surrounded by four dragons breathing fire.

The print has been laid onto diaper household linen and nailed to wooden stainer. There is a gilded frame with cross keys on the mitres. The glass is hand blown.

Prints framed and used as decoration on walls. The print has been laid onto diaper household linen and nailed to wooden stainer which has been sealed into a frame with blue-grey paper strips 3-4 cm wide. There is a gilded frame with cross keys on the mitres. At some time the gilding on the frame has been painted over with black which has later been scraped off. There is a loop of textile tape about 2cm wide nailed to the top of the back of the frame to act as a fixing. The glass is hand blown and contains a number of impurities. The bole used for gilding is French or German in type and the possibility that the linen is unbleached and hence more likely to be French, suggests that the construction of the frame is French.

This is one of a pair of framed prints in the collection of the V&A. It depicts one of the four elements (Air, Fire, Earth and Water) and is from a suite of prints derived from tapestries that were made at Gobelins tapestry factory where engraver Sebastien Le Clerc was installed and later made professor. The tapestries were based on paintings by painter Charles Le Brun, who was Royal Painter and superintendent of the Gobelins factory between 1663 and 1690 and who encouraged Le Clerc to devote himself to engraving his designs. These prints by Le Clerc were first published in 1670.

This print (like its companion) is in an early eighteenth century frame. It has been laid onto a household linen. The bole used for gilding the frame is French or German in type and the possibility that the linen is unbleached and hence more likely to be French, suggests that the construction of the frame is French.

E.264-1991