Otto Eckmann, 'Five Swans' pillar tapestry, 1896/97, Tree-lined stream with five swimming swans. 241 x 98 cm. Made at Scherrebeker Kunstwebeschule, Scherrebek. Wool, polychrome dye, woven, on cotton. Marked: artist's signet, workshop signet., The pillar tapestry is one of the most famous works by Otto Eckmann and the Scherrebek Art Weaving School. Justus Brinckmann secured a copy for the Hamburg Museum as early as 1898. Many other institutions followed. Represented in numerous exhibitions and shown in many magazines and other publications, the 'Five Swans' became an incunabula of Art Nouveau. "The slim proportions of the carpet, the motif of the swans, the composition of the rhythmically grouped tree trunks and the moving lines of the brook correspond to the aesthetic ideas of the time like few other works of decorative art." (Heinz Spielmann, quoted from the cat. of the Badisches Landesmuseum, p. 213).Cat. Jugendstil, Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe 1987, no. 32 and cover.