Antique Aubusson | 340 x 128 cm | Nr. 12984

Antique Aubusson

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	France
Dimensions	340 cm x 128 cm (= 4.35 m²)
Construction	hand-woven
Material	Weft (pile): wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Warp: cotton
Year of manufacture	1880
Condition	pre-owned and cleaned
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Aubusson is a French commune in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, in the Creuse department. Aubusson is world-famous for its rug and tapestry manufactories. Woven French rugs are also known as Savonnerie rugs, after France's most famous rug manufactory. The Savonnerie owed its name to its place of production, a former soap factory. The colours follow the taste of the 18th-century upper middle classes and were conceived for impressive, formal rooms. The design features are part of a whole interior concept: the stucco, the furniture, its upholstery and the floor were often styled to match. The medallion adorned with scrolling vines and the equally ornate corners give the piece a strong architectural structure. In Aubusson, rugs were made in the style of the Savonnerie manufactory, though often of somewhat lower quality and knot density than the Savonnerie rugs themselves. Some weavers in the Aubusson workshops, however, enjoyed such a fine reputation that they received commissions from the French royal court.

Hardly anyone thinks of France when it comes to the classic rug-producing countries. In fact, though, rugs have been made in France in the traditional way for centuries. Gobelin rugs have been produced in France since 1607, and as early as 1627 the cloth manufacturers of Aubusson were granted the privilege by Louis XIII of making rugs bearing the seal "façon de Turquie".

Aubusson rugs need to be distinguished from tapisserie and Gobelin rugs. This causes confusion and is often got wrong, because tapisserie is simply the French word for rug. Strictly speaking, however, in Germany the term tapisserie rug is used only for hand-woven fabrics carrying a motif (so-called pictorial rugs).

This antique Aubusson is a collector's piece. It is around 146 years old, which alone makes it a truly special piece. Antique rugs like this Antique Aubusson remain as sought after as ever and fetch top prices at renowned auction houses.

Material

Aubusson rugs are known for their fine, flat-woven surface. They are hand-woven and consist only of warp and weft threads, so they have no thick, upright pile. The pattern is created by the coloured weft threads that are woven into the warp threads.

The weft threads of this Aubusson rug are made of new wool and at the same time form the pile. The warp threads are made of cotton.

Condition

You are not the first to take a liking to this Antique Aubusson. It had owners before you who valued it and lived with it. It was hand-woven around 1880. It has been thoroughly cleaned and is in good but unrestored condition. This particular piece calls for a careful hand. With age it has grown somewhat brittle and has therefore become prone to tears. Accordingly, it already shows a number of tears and damaged areas. We have not restored this Antique Aubusson because we feel it has a special charm just as it is. If you would prefer otherwise, we will of course be glad to restore the rug for you. Either way, this Antique Aubusson will give you pleasure for decades to come.