Lot Essay
The best known and most successful carpet weaving workshops in England were the looms established at Axminster by Thomas Whitty in 1755. Whitty, an energetic weaver of cloth, recognized the growning demand for carpets among the English aristocracy and wealthy merchant classes during the second half of the eighteenth century. Whitty was the first Englishman to successfully exploit the techniques of pile carpet weaving by creating extremely high quality carpets at an economically feasible cost. Axminster carpets were quickly recognized as the best English produced carpets available with Whitty winning the prize offered for carpet weaving by the Society of Arts in 1757, 1758 and 1759. The fame of Axminster carpets was well appreciated as evidenced by a royal visit from George III in 1783, the commissioning of carpets by the Prince of Wales, as well as commissions from the leading architectural designers of the day such as Robert Adam. These glory years for the Axminster workshops remained throughout the life of Thomas Whitty and continued under the guidance of his son, also named Thomas.
The carpet offered here, while not seemingly documented in the existing literature on Aximnster carpets, has many distinguishing features that make it indisputably a product of the Axminster looms. Most notably, the resplendent flowering baskets and the floral sprays of the field can be found on at least six other Axminster carpets of the period; one in the Lansdowne Rooms of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, two in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, one formerly at Boscobel, Garrison-on-the-Hudson, New York, and one formerly in the collection of the Earl of Stradbroke (see Jacobs, Bertram, Axminster Carpets, Leigh-on-Sea, 1970, plates 52, 53, 54 and 55; Sotheby's New York, December 16, 1993, lot 253 and Faraday, Cornelia Bateman, European and American Carpets and Rugs, New Edition, Antique Collector's Club, 1990, p. 167, plate XLV).
The present carpet, however, differs from these cited examples in the rest of its overall design. In these other carpets, most likely based on designs by Robert Adam, the overall design scheme is predominately neo-classical in feeling. Here, we do not see the restraints of the neo-classical design idiom, but rather experience a celebration of lush floral motifs for which the Axminster looms were famous until the death of Thomas Whitty II in 1799. The use of the underlying tone-on-tone floral trellis of the field seen here can also be found on several other Axminster carpets, especially a carpet in the Henry Francis du Pont Collections at Winterthur, dated by Jacobs to circa 1760-1780, and another carpet sold Sotheby's London in 1967 (see Jacobs, Ibid., plates 23 and 46). Both the Winterthur carpet and the Sotheby's London carpet share the more rococo floral exuberance seen in the present carpet. The Winterthur carpet also employs the flowering basket device in each corner which probably indicates that this motif was not necessarily of Adam design, but was rather a well-established part of the Axminster repertoire.
As with most 18th century Axminster or other European carpets which remain with us today, the present carpet is fragmentary, missing its original borders. While it is impossible to determine what the original border scheme may have been, it is possible that this carpet is only missing a narrow, decoraive guard stripe. The above cited Sotheby's London carpet, while sharing a similar floral medallion and floral bouquet design, is finished with only a narrow floral meander border. Regardless, the carpet offered here retains the incredible color, design and mastery of execution which has made Axminster carpets so highly sought after since their creation in the 18th century.
The carpet offered here, while not seemingly documented in the existing literature on Aximnster carpets, has many distinguishing features that make it indisputably a product of the Axminster looms. Most notably, the resplendent flowering baskets and the floral sprays of the field can be found on at least six other Axminster carpets of the period; one in the Lansdowne Rooms of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, two in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, one formerly at Boscobel, Garrison-on-the-Hudson, New York, and one formerly in the collection of the Earl of Stradbroke (see Jacobs, Bertram, Axminster Carpets, Leigh-on-Sea, 1970, plates 52, 53, 54 and 55; Sotheby's New York, December 16, 1993, lot 253 and Faraday, Cornelia Bateman, European and American Carpets and Rugs, New Edition, Antique Collector's Club, 1990, p. 167, plate XLV).
The present carpet, however, differs from these cited examples in the rest of its overall design. In these other carpets, most likely based on designs by Robert Adam, the overall design scheme is predominately neo-classical in feeling. Here, we do not see the restraints of the neo-classical design idiom, but rather experience a celebration of lush floral motifs for which the Axminster looms were famous until the death of Thomas Whitty II in 1799. The use of the underlying tone-on-tone floral trellis of the field seen here can also be found on several other Axminster carpets, especially a carpet in the Henry Francis du Pont Collections at Winterthur, dated by Jacobs to circa 1760-1780, and another carpet sold Sotheby's London in 1967 (see Jacobs, Ibid., plates 23 and 46). Both the Winterthur carpet and the Sotheby's London carpet share the more rococo floral exuberance seen in the present carpet. The Winterthur carpet also employs the flowering basket device in each corner which probably indicates that this motif was not necessarily of Adam design, but was rather a well-established part of the Axminster repertoire.
As with most 18th century Axminster or other European carpets which remain with us today, the present carpet is fragmentary, missing its original borders. While it is impossible to determine what the original border scheme may have been, it is possible that this carpet is only missing a narrow, decoraive guard stripe. The above cited Sotheby's London carpet, while sharing a similar floral medallion and floral bouquet design, is finished with only a narrow floral meander border. Regardless, the carpet offered here retains the incredible color, design and mastery of execution which has made Axminster carpets so highly sought after since their creation in the 18th century.