.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The design for this carpet is very similar to one found in the White Drawing-Room at Buckingham Palace (Bertram Jacobs: Axminster Carpets 1755-1957, Leigh-on-Sea, 1970, pl. 3).
The indebtedness of the design of the present carpet to that of Savonnerie carpets is very clear but the present English version has a number of significant differences from the French. The tripartite field was originally used in the magnificent Savonnerie carpets made for the Galerie d'Apollon and the Grande Galerie at the Louvre Palace in the second half of the 17th century. However, it appears substantially to have lost popularity in France in the 18th century, whereas in the second half of that century it became very popular in English carpets, that made at Moorfields for Syon House in 1769 being one of the best known (C.E.C. Tattersall: A History of British Carpets, Benfleet, 1934, pl. XVII). The paler brown ground tone was also one which was more popular than the more intense colouring of the French version. And the inclusion of wicker baskets at each end is a moment of laxity that is much more English than French.
The overall effect of this carpet is considerably less formal than the French original. The design is not so rigid, the colours softer, and the weave coarser. There is however still no denying that this is a very impressive carpet, not just for its grand design, but also for the massive scale on which it is woven.
The indebtedness of the design of the present carpet to that of Savonnerie carpets is very clear but the present English version has a number of significant differences from the French. The tripartite field was originally used in the magnificent Savonnerie carpets made for the Galerie d'Apollon and the Grande Galerie at the Louvre Palace in the second half of the 17th century. However, it appears substantially to have lost popularity in France in the 18th century, whereas in the second half of that century it became very popular in English carpets, that made at Moorfields for Syon House in 1769 being one of the best known (C.E.C. Tattersall: A History of British Carpets, Benfleet, 1934, pl. XVII). The paler brown ground tone was also one which was more popular than the more intense colouring of the French version. And the inclusion of wicker baskets at each end is a moment of laxity that is much more English than French.
The overall effect of this carpet is considerably less formal than the French original. The design is not so rigid, the colours softer, and the weave coarser. There is however still no denying that this is a very impressive carpet, not just for its grand design, but also for the massive scale on which it is woven.