Savonnerie manufactory

Tapis de Savonnerie, underLouis XIV,afterCharles Le Brun,made for the Grande Galerie in theLouvre.

Savonnerie manufactory in 2018

TheSavonnerie manufactorywas the most prestigious European manufactory of knotted-pilecarpets,enjoying its greatest period c. 1650–1685; the cachet of its name is casually applied to many knotted-pile carpets made at other centers. The manufactory had its immediate origins in a carpet manufactory established in a former soap factory (Frenchsavon) on theQuai de Chaillotdownstream ofParisin 1615 byPierre DuPont,who was returning from theLevant.

Under a patent (privilège) of eighteen years, a monopoly was granted byLouis XIIIin 1627 to DuPont and his former apprenticeSimon Lourdet,makers of carpetsfaçon de Turquie( "in the manner ofTurkey"). Until 1768, the products of the manufactory remained exclusively the property of the Crown, and Savonnerie carpets were among the grandest of Frenchdiplomatic gifts.

The carpets were made of wool with some silk in the small details, knotted using theGhiordes knot,at about ninety knots to the square inch. Some early carpets broadly imitate Persian models, but the Savonnerie style soon settled into more purely French designs, pictorial or armorial framed medallions, densely massed flowers in bouquets or leafyrinceauxagainst deep blue, black or deep brown grounds, within multiple borders.

TheSavonnerie manufactorynow belongs to theGobelins Manufactoryand still employs 40 weavers.

History of the manufacture

Further information:Orientalism in early modern France

Ottoman Court carpet, late 16th century,EgyptorTurkey.

The pre-history of the Savonnerie manufacture lies in the concerns ofHenri IVto revive the French luxury arts, which had collapsed in the disorders of civil violence in theWars of Religion.French silver was being drained to theLevantandPersiafor the purchase of knotted-pile carpets. Among the craftsmen the king provided with studios and workshops in the galleries of theLouvreitself, was Pierre Dupont. Dupont'sLa Stromatourgie, ou Traité de la Fabrication des tapis de Turquie( "Treaty on the manufacture of Turkish carpets", Paris 1632) is a prime source for information on French carpet manufacturing in the early seventeenth century (Standen).

Dupont and Lourdet fell into a quarrel that lasted into the next generation. The tapestry-workers were orphan children provided by the Hôpital de Bon Port, and Lourdet gained possession of the soap-factory buildings, while Dupont continued at the Galeries du Louvre until his death in 1640; the pile carpet manufactories both flourished, providing bothCardinal MazarinandAnne of Austriawith carpets and pile hangings, now proudly made, as the documents state,façon de France,"in the French manner".

The best of the Savonnerie carpets were completed under the new contract granted in 1664under the general direction ofJean-Baptiste Colbert,organized along lines similar to those employed in theGobelinsand commissioning the unequalled series of thirteen carpets for theGalerie d'Apollonand ninety-three for the Grande Galerie of theLouvre,which, though all but one were completed by 1683, were never used,Louis XIV's attention having become entirely fixed onVersailles,while the Grand Galerie was now used for displaying maps and plans of fortifications rather than royallevées.Nevertheless, a fortune was spent on the carpets, which were paid for at the rate of 165 livres peraune,which measured 118.8 square centimeter/46 and a half square inches. The designs were from the king's painterCharles Le Brun,realized as full-scale cartoons by two painters from the Gobelins; Le Brun was carrying out ceiling paintings in the same galleries. Weaving began in 1668 and the first carpets for the Grande Galerie were delivered towards the end of that year (Wrightsman catalogue, no. 277). Some thirty-five complete carpets remain in the French Mobilier National today.

Savonnerie carpet detail.

In its heyday, the Savonnerie took sixty orphans aged ten to twelve and apprenticed them for six years, at the end of which term,onewould be granted themaîtrisewhile the others would remainjourneymen.The children were taught the art of design as well, a painter from theAcadémiecoming once a month to inspect their projects. Later, under the financial stringencies ensuing from the wars of Louis XIV, the Savonnerie fell into eclipse, its management combined with that of the Gobelins under the direction of the architect of theBâtiments du Roi,Robert de Cotte,its workers often unpaid, its looms frequently idle, though in 1712 it was made aManufacture Royale.

During the 18th century attempts were made to update the manufactory's oftenretardatairedesigns, lightening and brightening the colors and introducingRococoelements. In the later eighteenth century, Savonnerie produced panels for screens and firescreens and some wall-hangings. TheRevolutionsaw the factory's nadir; royal crowns, cyphers and fleurs-de-lys were cut from carpets that remained in storage as insignia offéodalité.The revival of the Savonnerie is due to the patronage ofNapoleon,who commissioned carpets after 1805 in theEmpire style.New cartoons were designed byPercier and Fontaineand the old stock of drawings made their way into the collections of the newLouvre Museum.In 1825, the Savonnerie was incorporated with theGobelins Manufactory,and its independent existence came to an end.

The Savonnerie phenomena was already spreading across the European aristocracy who wished to emulate the traditional fashions of the previous French Court. One of the British houses, notorious for collecting 18th-century French royal artworks, isWaddesdon Manor- a Victorian manor house that possesses nineteen Savonnerie carpets now in its collection.

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  One ofWaddesdon Manor's three Long Gallery carpets, out of the 93 Louis XIV commissioned from the Savonnerie factory in 1665 for the Louvre.
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  Armchair (one of a pair) at the Metropolitan Museum in New York
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  Carpet at the Metropolitan Museum in New York
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  Trophies and birds patterned carpet at the Metropolitan Museum in New York
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  Depiction of flowers in a silver vase at the Metropolitan Museum in New York
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  Trophies and birds Savonnerie at the Metropolitan Museum in New York
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  Grande Gallerie du Louvre carpet, No69, made in the Savonnerie between 1670 and 1685. On display at theGobelins Manufactory.
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  Savonnerie tapisserie, 18th century.Versailles
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  Savonnerie tapisserie, 18th century.Versailles
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  One of the biggest Savonnerie carpets, 19th century, Notre-Dame de Paris cathedrale, designed by Saint-Ange
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  samples of Colors in the manufactory
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  Selection of colors for the carpet with the model nowadays
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  Design in 2018.
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  Technique of the Savonnerie in 2018
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  Technique of the Savonnerie in 2018
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  Technique of the Savonnerie in 2018

See also

• Franco-Ottoman alliance
• Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting
• Savonnerie carpet collection at the Mobilier national (Paris, France)
• Savonnerie carpet collection at Waddesdon Manor

References

• Wolf Burchard,'Savonnerie Reviewed: Charles Le Brun and the "Grand Tapis de Pied d'Ouvrage a la Turque" woven for the Grande Galerie at the Louvre', Furniture History, vol. XLVIII (2012), pp. 1–43.
• Wolf Burchard, 'Unity through Variety: The Louvre's Savonnerie Carpets' in The Sovereign Artist: Charles Le Brun and the Image of Louis XIV, London 2016, pp. 155–195.
• Madeleine Jarry, 1966.The Carpets of the Manufacture de la Savonnerie.
• Edith Standenin F.J.B. Watson, 1966.The Wrightsman Collection,vol II, nos 275–8 and Appendix (New York:Metropolitan Museum of Art)