Chinese Aubusson | 372 x 264 cm | Nr. 14953

Floral Chinese Aubusson, beige with border and medallion

Origin	China
Dimensions	372 cm x 264 cm (= 9.82 m²)
Construction	hand-woven
Material	Weft (pile): wool Warp: cotton
Pile height	2mm
Year of manufacture	1990
Colour	Beige, olive green
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

The pattern of this rug is inspired by the patterns of classic Aubusson rugs. This rug, however, was knotted in China. Aubusson is a French town 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 manufactory owed the name Savonnerie to its place of production, an old soap factory. The colouring follows the taste of the upper middle classes in the 18th century and was conceived for impressive, stately rooms. The design features are part of a whole room concept: the stucco, the furniture, its upholstery and the floor were often designed to match. The medallion decorated with tendrils and the equally decorated corners have 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 good 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).

Pattern

The lavish floral motifs of this Aubusson are elegant and full of variety. The graceful plant symbols, depicting blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The edge of the rug is framed by a surround (border). The border forms a splendid contrast to the centre.

At the heart of this Aubusson's central field lies the symmetrical centre, also known as the medallion. The design of the field is subordinate to the medallion, creating the impression that the medallion is floating on the field.

The background of this Aubusson is beige. The border is worked in lilac, yellow and dusky pink. In the light green centre, light brown and olive green are combined.

Material

China rugs are hand-knotted from silky, lustrous wool. For our high-quality China rugs, the wool is obtained by gently shearing live sheep. New wool is a renewable, natural raw material with a number of impressive properties: thanks to the natural lanolin in the wool, the surface repels droplets of water and is naturally proofed against dirt. Wool also offers excellent thermal insulation, helps regulate the indoor climate and dampens sound. The knot density is relatively low – as is typical of Chinese rugs – and the pile is left long.