AUBUSSON TAPESTRIES & CARPETS (founded c.1600)

CC884

A Fantastic 9 Piece Louis XV Style Parcel Gilt Carved Walnut and Aubusson Tapestry Parlor Set. Consisting of Four Side Chairs, Four Arm Chairs and a Settee.

The Aubusson tapestry manufacture of the 17th and 18th centuries managed to compete with the royal manufacture of Gobelins tapestry and the privileged position of Beauvais tapestry. Tapestry manufacture at Aubusson, in the upper valley of the Creuse in central France, may have developed from looms in isolated family workshops established by Flemings that are noted in documents from the 16th century.

Typically Aubusson tapestries depended on engravings as a design source or the full-scale cartoons from which the low-warp tapestry-weavers worked. As with Flemish and Paris tapestries of the same time, figures were set against a conventional background of verdure, stylized foliage and vignettes of plants on which birds perch and from which issue glimpses of towers and towns.

The town of Felletin is identified as the source from which came the Aubusson tapestries in the inventory of Charlotte d'Albret, duchess of Valentinois and widow of Cesare Borgia

The small town of Aubusson, on the River Creuse in France, had a long history of producing elaborate and costly tapestries. They were known for their elegance and delicate colouring and often depicted romantic pastoral scenes derived from artists such as Boucher; historic scenes, inspired by classical mythology; or more formalized architectural vistas.

Aubusson was particularly noted for its finely balanced compositions of garlands and bouquets which became famous and sought after throughout Europe.

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