Antique Aubusson Rug BB7081 6'8" × 11'2" $26,000

An early 20th century carpet in French, the open field having light brown and purple vertical striations within a midnight border with whimsical trees and animals.

The Savonnerie 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 carpets 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 antique 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.