拍品專文
The popularity of Savonnerie carpets in the eighteenth century, coupled with their exclusivity to the Royal Household, led to the foundation of a carpet workshop at Aubusson in 1743. At first all the carpets produced were piled, like the present example, rather than the flatwoven type with which the name Aubusson is now commonly thought to be synonymous. While the carpets were, to a certain extent, the nobility's and rich merchants' Savonnerie, being produced at considerably lower prices than the latter, they were considerably more inventive of design, resulting in a rapidly growing order book through third quarter of the eighteenth century. Clients during this period included members of the Royal Family, some of whom preferred Aubusson carpets for their private apartments.
The factory records for the year 1788 show that by that time it was producing ninety carpets in a year (Jarry, M.: The Carpets of Aubusson, Leigh-on-Sea, 1969, p.21). Of these, seventy were of normal quality, while twenty were designated as 'luxury carpets'. During the reign of Louis XVI, while the Savonnerie was still producing further examples of carpets designed in the second quarter of the century, Aubusson adapted its designs to be compatible with current taste, resulting in increased popularity at the expense of the Savonnerie.
The luxury carpets, show much of the same attention to detail that is seen in the Savonnerie carpets, although using a slightly coarser weave. The present example was probably commissioned for a dining room of a member of the nobility which had large windows along one side. The dining room is indicated by the cornucopia, filled only with fruit rather than the usual combination of fruit and flowers. The cartoon of the carpet also takes carefully into consideration the angle from which the light would strike the motifs on the carpet, ensuring that the trompe d'oeil effects of the golden mouldings and the masks of Apollo were made even more convincing in situ. At the same time the blue ground is shaded across its width becoming darker the further from the windows it is.
A cartoon for a carpet with the same precision of detail and an almost identical trellissed field is retained by the Hamot workshop at Aubusson (Jarry,M.: op. cit., fig.26). It is dated to circa 1780. In that example however, the directional treatment of the light, which makes this carpet so exceptional, is absent. This latter feature can be observed, albeit not so markedly, in a carpet in the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon, attributed to Aubusson, but also not excluding the possibility of its manufacture either at Beauvais or at the Savonnerie (Verlet, P.: The Savonnerie - the James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Fribourg 1982, no. 19, p.360, ill. p.362)
The factory records for the year 1788 show that by that time it was producing ninety carpets in a year (Jarry, M.: The Carpets of Aubusson, Leigh-on-Sea, 1969, p.21). Of these, seventy were of normal quality, while twenty were designated as 'luxury carpets'. During the reign of Louis XVI, while the Savonnerie was still producing further examples of carpets designed in the second quarter of the century, Aubusson adapted its designs to be compatible with current taste, resulting in increased popularity at the expense of the Savonnerie.
The luxury carpets, show much of the same attention to detail that is seen in the Savonnerie carpets, although using a slightly coarser weave. The present example was probably commissioned for a dining room of a member of the nobility which had large windows along one side. The dining room is indicated by the cornucopia, filled only with fruit rather than the usual combination of fruit and flowers. The cartoon of the carpet also takes carefully into consideration the angle from which the light would strike the motifs on the carpet, ensuring that the trompe d'oeil effects of the golden mouldings and the masks of Apollo were made even more convincing in situ. At the same time the blue ground is shaded across its width becoming darker the further from the windows it is.
A cartoon for a carpet with the same precision of detail and an almost identical trellissed field is retained by the Hamot workshop at Aubusson (Jarry,M.: op. cit., fig.26). It is dated to circa 1780. In that example however, the directional treatment of the light, which makes this carpet so exceptional, is absent. This latter feature can be observed, albeit not so markedly, in a carpet in the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon, attributed to Aubusson, but also not excluding the possibility of its manufacture either at Beauvais or at the Savonnerie (Verlet, P.: The Savonnerie - the James A de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Fribourg 1982, no. 19, p.360, ill. p.362)