In the 1660's Louis XIV launched a great effort to make France the ranking world power. During years of successes he started a navy, expanded commerce, and promoted industry, including inauguration of a carpet factory intended to make France a world center for carpets "in the Turkish manner."
Before the reign of Louis XIV ended, some of what he had begun was lost. But Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets continued as major sources of artistry and quality in rug manufacturing, flourishing through the 18th and 19th centuries and continuing to this day.
Some eighty years before the village of Aubusson was selected to develop it's floor covering industry, the royal factory of Savonnerie was producing veloute (piled carpet) exclusively for the royal family. When Aubusson, on the Creuse River in Central France, received it's franchise in 1742, veloute was very much in style.
In time, Aubusson began using the point plat or flat-weave, consistent with tapestry weaving techniques for which the area had become noted. And so, two distinctively varied manufacturing styles were developed in France.
France's fledgling carpet industry began to produce, unapologetically, exact copies of weavings from the Courts of Turkey and Persia, praised as equal to those being made in Constantinople and Isfahan. Inevitably, it became possible, and prudent, to create its own design style independent of those Oriental models.
As craftsmanship and originality of design improved, so too did availability of carpets. Once made only for royalty, these elegant and useful weavings were adopted by the nobility, wealthy merchants and ultimately, after the Revolution, becase accessible to the middle class. This, of course, took two centuries to happen.
Very popular in the 19th century because of their beauty and artistry, the Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets made a dramatic comeback in recent years.
Because of the limited availability of these carpets today and strong universal demand, Renaissance Carpet and Tapestries in collaboration with a few of the best remaining craftsmen from France, succeeded in recreating a beautiful collection of Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets.
These renowned carpets of Aubusson and Savonnerie come closest to their own reliable life's history. These carpets are a proud part of the present and relatively recent past while many others worldwide have their beginnings lost in legend, obscured by the passage of time and colored by imaginative speculation.
Welcome to the world of Aubusson and Savonnerie. You have a fascinating appointment with a history that lies just underfoot. |
