InANTIQUES ANTIQUE EUROPEAN CARPETS
and moving from the countryside into newly developing cities.
Seine River, known as Savonnerie. The Savonnerie carpet factory was established in the Chaillot district of Paris in 1627. The name Savonnerie was not the name of the town or the region, but rather the name of a factory that was previously renowned for making soap (or savon in French, with the equivalent word of saboon in Farsi), and was now being repurposed by royal decree for the production of a uniquely French style of carpet. Savonnerie carpets tend to have thick, lush wool pile, with a highly ornamental floral styling that would echo the designs that would be seen on the walls and ceilings of the French royal palaces.
The majority of the tapestry production that was taking place during these centuries was in Brussels and other parts of northeastern region between Belgium and France, which was an only partially defined area between the two countries at that time. The tapestry weaving centers in Brussels, Antwerp, and Flanders would make tapestries that would be in demand not only locally in those cities, but also throughout many other cities and countries further away in Europe, including France (immediately to the south), Spain (even further to the south), and the United Kingdom (to the West and across the English Channel). In each of these different countries, while they were importing the tapestries for their walls from Belgium in the French-Flemish northeast, they were also creating their own unique cultural treasures for their floors, each with a flavor specific to its respective country. SAVONNERIE RUGS, AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CARPETS AND SOAP If the aforementioned locus of tapestry production being in the porous northeastern region on the border between Belgium and France, then a location a bit further south that was also renowned for textile production was in a district of Paris in along the Antique 17th Century Flemish Verdure Tapestry, #29153
AUBUSSON RUGS, AND THE TRANSITION TO FLAT-WOVEN FINERY
Another location even further south from Paris that was similarly famous for its carpet production is Aubusson, located in the Creuse region in central France.
Antique French Savonnerie Carpet – 11’ x 20’3”, circa 1890, #26611
The Savonnerie carpets were initially being produced in this repurposed soap factory specifically for the French royal family, but later also began to proliferate among wealthy buyers and the upper class, who wanted to bring to their own homes what was now en vogue in the palaces of French royalty. In later years, the Savonnerie style would prove to be so popular, that it would be emulated throughout much of Western Europe, with Savonnerie style rug production later appearing in Spain, Austria, and beyond, with each of those locations making their own modifications to the Savonnerie look. The Savonnerie factory in Paris, France ran successfully for centuries, before ultimately winding down operations and being combined into another famous French textile manufactory, the Gobelins tapestry manufactory, also in Paris.
Antique French Savonnerie Carpet – 18’ x 27’3”, circa 1910, #31224
Aubusson was famous for its carpet production from the 15th century and possibly even earlier, but was formally established as the Royal Manufactory of Aubusson in 1665, nearly thirty years after similar royal status was conferred on the highly popular Savonnerie rug production.
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