Gobelin was the name of a family of dyers, who in all probability came originally from Reims, France, and who in the middle of the 15th century established themselves in the Faubourg Saint Marcel,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, on the banks of the Bièvre. The first head of the firm was named Jehan Gobelin (d. 1476). He discovered a peculiar kind of scarlet dyestuff, and he expended so much money on his establishment that it was named by the common people ''la folie Gobelin''. To the dye-works there was added in the 16th century a manufactory of

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

. The family's wealth increased so rapidly that in the third or fourth generation some of them forsook their trade and purchased titles of nobility. More than one of their number held offices of state, among others Balthasar, who became successively treasurer general of artillery, treasurer extraordinary of war, councillor secretary of the king, chancellor of the exchequer, councillor of state and president of the chamber of accounts, and who in 1601 received from Henry IV the lands and lordship of

Brie-Comte-Robert Brie-Comte-Robert () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Brie-Comte-Robert is on the edge of the plain of Brie and was formerly the capital of the ''Brie française''. "Brie" com ...

. He died in 1603. The name of the Gobelins as dyers cannot be found later than the end of the 17th century. In 1662, the works in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, with the adjoining grounds, were purchased by Jean-Baptiste Colbert on behalf of

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and transformed into a general upholstery manufactory, the Gobelins Manufactory. In various languages 'gobelin' is synonymous for 'tapestry'.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Gobelins Database MarketplaceThe Gobelin and Handicraft Art Association
French families French tapestry artists

See also

References

External links