PROBABLY IMPERIAL TAPESTRY FACTORY, SAINT PETERSBURG, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

The Imperial Tapestry Factory was established in 1716 near Saint Petersburg by Peter I, the Great (reigned 1682-1725) but floor carpets, both tapestry-woven and knotted-pile, were probably not produced before the early 19th century. Carpets and tapestries woven in this workshop are distinguished by a very high quality and reflect a French style preferred by Peter the Great and his successors during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In fact, when the Imperial Tapestry Factory was established, weavers from the Gobelins manufactory in Paris were brought to Russia to train local weavers (see Sherrill, S. Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, New York, 1996, pp. 281-2). The sophisticated border of lions and cherubs and the central lush floral wreath demonstrate the influence of the Neoclassical style favored by Catherine the Great and suggests that this carpet may have been commissioned by or for the court.