Lot Essay
The structure of this carpet is almost identical to one sold in these rooms 11 June 1992, lot 134 that was woven for Bridwell House, Devon, circa 1793. A carpet of identical field design to the latter, but demonstrating a different and coarser technique, is in the library at Kingston Lacy, Dorset. This last carpet, ordered in 1819, demonstrates the deterioration of quality that had set in at Axminster by this time. While the design of the carpet offered would at first be thought to date from the nineteenth century, its regularity of layout and the small size of the motifs are not inconsistent with the late eighteenth century date indicated by the structure.