A fine 18th century needlework picture

French, circa 1750

Worked in silk and wool in petit point, within a border of cross stitch, with a bucolic scene in the manner of the fêtes galantes of Nicolas Lancret. A courting couple, their faces worked in a still finer stitch, recline at the foot of a tree while a boatman punts away and two dogs run towards them. A picturesque ruin stands at the left, with a church and other buildings on the rising ground of the further bank of the river.

With minor restorations. Mounted on a stretcher.

68.7cm (27”) high and 66.3cm (26⅛”) wide.