Carpet thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Carpet

1878 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Gobelins Manufactory was founded in Paris in 1662, assembling numerous different workshops under one roof, its sole purpose to supply Louis XIV's palaces. Along with Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's Minister of Finance, the King began a sustained campaign to elevate the standards of luxury goods produced in France and eliminate imports. Having centralised the site of production, the very best artists and craftsmen were then sourced from across Europe to provide the manufactory with the sound foundation it needed to supplant its foreign competitors. The name Gobelins has since become synonymous with high-warp tapestries, but it also produced other textile furnishings including carpets.

This sample of a carpet border is one of eight pieces worked by pupils of the National Manufactory of the Gobelins in 1878. They were presented to the V&A Museum by the French Minister for State Education, to demonstrate the continued skill of the celebrated French workshop.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
knotted pile
Brief description
Carpet sample depicting poppies and sunflowers, manufactured at Gobelins, Paris, 1878
Physical description
Carpet sample depicting a long-stemmed red poppy and an orange sunflower on a green ground, with a brown border.
Dimensions
  • Length: 73cm
  • Width: 70cm
  • Weight: 1.42kg
Credit line
Given by His Excellency Monsieur Bardoux, Ministre de l'Instruction Publique, des Cultes, et des Beaux Arts
Subjects depicted
Summary
The Gobelins Manufactory was founded in Paris in 1662, assembling numerous different workshops under one roof, its sole purpose to supply Louis XIV's palaces. Along with Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's Minister of Finance, the King began a sustained campaign to elevate the standards of luxury goods produced in France and eliminate imports. Having centralised the site of production, the very best artists and craftsmen were then sourced from across Europe to provide the manufactory with the sound foundation it needed to supplant its foreign competitors. The name Gobelins has since become synonymous with high-warp tapestries, but it also produced other textile furnishings including carpets.

This sample of a carpet border is one of eight pieces worked by pupils of the National Manufactory of the Gobelins in 1878. They were presented to the V&A Museum by the French Minister for State Education, to demonstrate the continued skill of the celebrated French workshop.
Collection
Accession number
30B-1879

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Record createdDecember 8, 2006
Record URL
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