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Lot Essay
The Devon market town of Axminster recently celebrated the 250th anniversary of the production of the first Axminster carpet. In recognition of this, Axminster Carpets Ltd. have contributed by producing a commemorative rug inspired by the original designs of the Axminster master weaver Thomas Whitty (d.1792).
Re-enacting history, the carpet was paraded this Summer by the weavers of Axminster Carpets, through the town to the Minster Church where it was blessed by the Bishop of Exeter and then presented to the Earl of Devon, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, representing Her Majesty The Queen. The final resting place will be at Clarence House, the residence of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
The present lot is a second commemorative rug of the same design which is being auctioned at Christie's to help raise funds for the creation of a heritage centre and working carpet museum to be known as "The Weavers Tales" project.
Thomas Whitty had a great affinity with the famous English architect Robert Adam. They worked in collaboration on many of England's finest 18th century interiors where the intricate and delicate drawing of Adam's ceiling designs were mirrored in the finely woven carpets designed by Whitty. The design on the present lot is inspired by the original woven for the dining-room at Lansdowne House, 13 Berkeley Square, London. The same design but on a much larger scale, was woven in the early 1790's for Heveningham Hall, Suffolk for Sir John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke. A smaller carpet of almost identical design but with different colouring, was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1957, (Bertram Jacobs; Axminster Carpets (Hand-Made) 1755-1957, Leigh-on-Sea, 1970, pp. 42-43, pl. 53), and another can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Cornelia Bateman Faraday, European and American Carpets and Rugs, Woodbridge, 1990, pl. XLV, p. 167).
Re-enacting history, the carpet was paraded this Summer by the weavers of Axminster Carpets, through the town to the Minster Church where it was blessed by the Bishop of Exeter and then presented to the Earl of Devon, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, representing Her Majesty The Queen. The final resting place will be at Clarence House, the residence of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
The present lot is a second commemorative rug of the same design which is being auctioned at Christie's to help raise funds for the creation of a heritage centre and working carpet museum to be known as "The Weavers Tales" project.
Thomas Whitty had a great affinity with the famous English architect Robert Adam. They worked in collaboration on many of England's finest 18th century interiors where the intricate and delicate drawing of Adam's ceiling designs were mirrored in the finely woven carpets designed by Whitty. The design on the present lot is inspired by the original woven for the dining-room at Lansdowne House, 13 Berkeley Square, London. The same design but on a much larger scale, was woven in the early 1790's for Heveningham Hall, Suffolk for Sir John Rous, 1st Earl of Stradbroke. A smaller carpet of almost identical design but with different colouring, was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 1957, (Bertram Jacobs; Axminster Carpets (Hand-Made) 1755-1957, Leigh-on-Sea, 1970, pp. 42-43, pl. 53), and another can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Cornelia Bateman Faraday, European and American Carpets and Rugs, Woodbridge, 1990, pl. XLV, p. 167).