Oversized Antique Spanish Savonnerie Rug BB1323 14'8" × 22'0" $80,000

A neoclassical early 20th century Spanish Savonnerie carpet, the pinkish camel field with laurel vines and ribbons around a central ivory roundel within a brown border with roundels, architectural leaf motifs and harps.

The Savonnerie large area rugs for sale 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 Savonnerie antique oriental rugs and carpets specifically designed for the Royal Palaces. In the 1770’s, the tapestry looms at Aubusson in the Creuze Valley near Limoges were converted to produce flat-woven rugs in NYC and carpets under royal warrant. No one knows precisely when classical European carpets weaving began in this area, but it is certain that tapestries were first woven there long before the Gothic era.