Carpet of knotted wool pile on cotton, made by the Savonnerie manufactory, Paris, ca. 1803

Carpet of knotted wool pile on cotton. With a plain maroon ground, a broad border, and a large central medallion. The main border contains a classical floral scroll within two plain narrow borders. In each corner are rosettes in roundels. The colours of the border decoration are predominantly deep and pale yellow and the motifs are shaded in brown, red and orange. The main border is 28.25 inches wide. On the inner side there is a leafy stem in green, broken by rosettes at the corners and on the centre of each side.

There is a large circular medallion composed of floral motifs in the centre of the carpet. This has two outer rings of decoration and a central rosette. The outer ring is made up of swags of daisy-like flowers in pink, mauve and pale blue, tied with pale blue ribbons. The inner ring is a continuous stem of olive green leaves and pink berries. The central rosette consists of large blue leaves alternating with pink and orange flowers fanning out from another daisy-like flower in orange, red and grey. The entire medallion is approximately 96 inches wide. The design is coarsely executed on a large scale. Maroon dyes of several shades have been used in the field which have faded at different rates, thus giving a striped effect.

Cotton warp: ca. 10 threads to the inch.

Cotton weft: three shoots between each row of knots. Each weft is made up of two strands, each Z spun.

Turkish knot: 5 horizontally. 6 vertically, 30 to the square inch.

The ends and selvedges are over sewn.

Given by the Rt. Hon. The Earl of Lucan

The Savonnerie workshop was founded in France in the 17th century, on the site of an obsolete soap works at Chaillot (now the 16th arrondissement in Paris), from which it takes its name. Tapestries, screens and other textile furnishings were all woven here, but it was principally for carpets that the Savonnerie became known and this was their main source of production. The workshop was a Royal Manufactory, meaning that the finished textiles were destined for the royal palaces and accordingly the designers were employed by the Crown, with Louis XV himself approving the choice of designs. The mid eighteenth century represents the golden age of Savonnerie production. The workshop went into a state of decline under Louis XVI, but underwent a renaissance in the first decade of the 19th century, with Napoleon as its patron.

This carpet was woven in 1803 and displays all the characteristics of the 'Empire' style, with classically-derived motifs, an opulent palette of colours and a highly-ordered and symmetrical composition. The focal point of the carpet is the large, central medallion. An orange and red rosette is wreathed in laurel leaves and encircled by swags of daisies tied with ribbon. The carpet is bordered by scrolling acanthus leaves.

T.178-1961