Aubusson tapestry () is

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

manufactured at Aubusson, in the upper valley of the

Creuse Creuse (; or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the east, Cor ...

in central France. The term often covers similar products made in the nearby town of Felletin, whose products are often treated as "Aubusson". The industry probably developed soon after 1300 with looms in family workshops, perhaps already run by the

Flemings Flemish people or Flemings ( ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Flemish Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%. ''Flemish'' was historically a geographical term, as all inhabita ...

who were noted in documents from the 16th century. Aubusson tapestry of the 18th century managed to compete with the royal manufacture of Gobelins tapestry and the privileged position of Beauvais tapestry, although generally regarded as not their equal. In 2009 "Aubusson tapestry" was inscribed on the

Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. At that time the industry supported three workshops, and ten or so freelance weavers.

History

Felletin is identified as the source of the Aubusson tapestries in the inventory of

Charlotte of Albret Charlotte of Albret (1480 – 11 March 1514), Dame de Châlus, was a wealthy French noblewoman of the Albret family. She was the sister of King John III of Navarre and the wife of the widely notorious Cesare Borgia, whom she married in 1499. She w ...

, Duchess of Valentinois and widow of

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was a Cardinal (Catholic Church)#Cardinal_deacons, cardinal deacon and later an Italians, Italian ''condottieri, condottiero''. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the Aragonese ...

(1514). The workshops were given a royal charter in 1665, but came into their own in the later 18th century, with designs by

François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...

Jean-Baptiste Oudry Jean-Baptiste Oudry (; 17 March 1686 – 30 April 1755) was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game. His son, Jacques-Cha ...

and Jean-Baptiste Huet, many of pastoral

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

subjects.Osborne, 61 Typically, Aubusson tapestries depended on

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s as a design source, or scale drawings from which the low-warp tapestry-weavers worked. As with Flemish and Parisian tapestries of the same time, figures were set against a conventional background of ''verdure'', stylized foliage and vignettes of plants on which birds perch and from which issue glimpses of towers and towns. In the 19th century reproductions of pieces from the previous century, and furniture covers, as well as floral tapestry carpets, kept the industry viable, and the town took much of the post-World War II revival in tapestry weaving. In fact the leading designer

Jean Lurçat Jean Lurçat (; 1 July 1892 – 6 January 1966) was a French artist noted for his role in the revival of contemporary tapestry. Biography He was born in Bruyères, Vosges, the son of Lucien Jean Baptiste Lurçat and Marie Emilie Marguerite ...

had moved there in September 1939, with Marcel Gromaire and Pierre Dubreuil. ''Le Bouquet '' (1951) by Marc Saint-Saens is among the best and most representative French tapestries of the fifties. It is a tribute to Saint-Saens’s predilection for scenes from nature and rustic life.HENG, Michèle (1989), Marc Saint-Saens décorateur mural et peintre cartonnier de tapisserie, 1964 pages. The museum of the ) in Aubusson which opened in 2016 has a large collection of Aubusson tapestries. File:Tapisserie d'Aubusson (Huet).JPG, Aubusson tapestry after Jean-Baptiste Huet, c. 1786 File:Tapisserie-Aubusson-Arles-4.jpg, Aubusson tapestry from Arles File:Eole.jpg, Aubusson tapestry; design by Isaac Moillon at the ), Aubusson Lebouquetdesaens

Notes

References

*Osborne, Harold (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts'', 1975, OUP,

External links

* {{tapestry French art Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Tapestry-making operations