Antique French Aubusson Rug BB2930

An early 20th century French Aubusson carpet, the beige field with a faint allover lozenge lattice of curving leaves containing bouquets, framed by a U-shaped voluptuous garland of blossoms and architectural flowering vines within a plain beige border within an orange stripe.

The Savonnerie antique carpet factory, located on the site of the present Musee d’Art Moderne, inherited its name from the soap making factory it took over at the behest of Louis XIII. From 1660 until 1743 Savonnerie was a manufacture royale, carrying out commissions for French Aubusson rugs and rugs in NYC specifically designed for the Royal Palaces. In the 1770s, the tapestry looms at Aubusson in the Creuze Valley near Limoges were converted to produce flat-woven rugs and European Rugs under royal warrant. No one knows precisely when European rugs weaving began in this area, but it is certain that tapestries were first woven there long before the Gothic era.