Carpet

:This article is about carpet, the floor covering. Carpet is also the name of a solitaire card game.

Early Carpets

The hand-knotted pile carpet probably originated in Mongolia or Turkestan between the 4th and 2nd millennium BC.

Related Topics:
Mongolia - Turkestan

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The earliest surviving pile carpet in the world is called the "Pazyryk Carpet". It is usually dated to the 5th century BC. It was excavated by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko in 1949 from a Siberian burial ground where it had been preserved in ice in the valley of Pazyryk. The origin of this carpet is debated. It has been proposed to be a product of either the Iranian Scythians or the Persian Achaemenids. This carpet is 200 x 183 cm (6'6" x 6'0") and has 360,000 knots/m².

Related Topics:
Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko - Pazyryk - Scythians - Persian - Achaemenid

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The earliest group of surviving knotted pile carpets were produced under Seljuk rule, in the first half of the 13th century, on the Anatolian peninsula. The eighteen extant works are often referred to as the Konya Carpets. The central field of these large carpets is an overall geometric repeat pattern. The borders are ornamented with a large-scale, stylized, angular calligraphy called Kufic, pseudo-Kufic, or Kufesque.

Related Topics:
Seljuk - Anatolia - Konya Carpets - Kufic

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Persian and Anatolian carpets

See Persian rug

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Oriental Carpets in Europe

Oriental carpets began to appear in Europe after the Crusades in the 11th century. Until the mid-18th century they were mostly used on walls and tables. Except in royal or ecclesiastical settings they were considered too precious to cover the floor. Starting in the 13th century Oriental carpets begin to appear in paintings (notably from Italy, Flanders, England, France, and the Netherlands). Carpets of Indo-Persian design were introduced to Europe via the Dutch, British, and French East India Companies of the 17th and 18th century.

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Spanish carpets

Although isolated instances of carpet production pre-date the Muslim invasion of Spain, the Hispano-Moresque examples are the earliest significant body of European-made carpets. Documentary evidence shows production beginning in Spain as early as the 10th century AD. The earliest extant Spanish carpet, the so-called Synagogue carpet, is a unique survival dated to the 14th century. The earliest group of Hispano-Moresque carpets, Admiral carpets (also know as armorial carpets), has an all-over geometric, repeat pattern punctuated by blazons of noble, Christian Spanish families. The variety of this design was analyzed most thoroughly by May Beattie. Many of the 15th-century, Spanish carpets rely heavily on designs originally developed on the Anatolian Peninsula. Carpet production continued after the Reconquest of Spain and eventual expulsion of the Muslim population in the 15th century. 16th-century Renaissance Spanish carpet design is a derivative of silk textile design. Two of the most popular motifs are wreaths and pomegranates.

Related Topics:
Hispano-Moresque - Synagogue carpet - Admiral carpet - Armorial carpet - May Beattie - Reconquest

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French carpets

In 1608 Henry IV initiated the French production of "Turkish style" carpets under the direction of Pierre Dupont. This production was soon moved to the Savonnerie factory in Chaillot just west of Paris. The earliest, well-known group produced by the Savonnerie, then under the direction of Simon Lourdet, are the so-called Louis XIII carpets. This is a misnomer, however, as they were produced in the early years of Louis XIV's reign (circa 1743-1761). They are densely ornamented with flowers, sometimes in vases or baskets. The designs are based on Netherlandish and Flemish textiles and paintings. The most famous Savonnerie carpets are those made for the Grande Galerie and Galerie d'Apollon in the Louvre between c. 1665-1685. These 105 masterpieces, made under the artistic direction of Charles Le Brun, were never installed as Louis XIV moved to Versailles in 1678. Their design combines rich acanthus leaves, architectural-style framing, and mythological scenes (inspired by Cesare Ripa's Iconologie) with emblems of Louis XIV's royal power. Pierre-Josse Perrot is the most well-known of the mid-18th-century carpet designers. His many surviving works and drawings display graceful rococo s-scrolls, central rosettes, shells, acanthus leaves, and floral swags. The Savonnerie manufactory was moved to the Gobelins in Paris in 1826. The Beauvais manufactory, better known for their tapestry, made knotted pile carpets from 1780 to 1792. Carpet production in small, privately owned workshops in the town of Aubusson began in 1743. Carpets produced in France employ the symmetrical knot.

Related Topics:
Henry IV - Pierre Dupont - Savonnerie - Simon Lourdet - Louis XIV - Grande Galerie - Galerie d'Apollon - Louvre - Charles Le Brun - Versailles - Acanthus - Cesare Ripa - Pierre-Josse Perrot - Gobelins - Tapestry - Aubusson

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English carpets

Knotted pile carpet weaving technology probably came to England in the early 16th century with Flemish Calvinists fleeing religious persecution. Because many of these weavers settled in South-eastern England in Norwich the 14 extant 16th and 17th century carpets are sometimes referred to as "Norwich carpets." These works are either adaptations of Anatolian or Indo-Persian designs or employ Elizabethan-Jacobean scrolling vines and blossoms. All but one are dated or bear a coat of arms. Like the French, English weavers used the symmetrical knot. There are documented and surviving examples of carpets from three 18th-century manufactories: Exeter (1756-1761, owned by Claude Passavant, 3 extant carpets), Moorfields (1752-1806, owned by Thomas Moore, 5 extant carpets), and Axminster (1755-1835, owned by Thomas Whitty, numerous extant carpets). Exeter and Moorfields were both staffed with renegade weavers from the French Savonnerie and, therefore, employ the weaving structure of that factory and Perrot-inspired designs. Neoclassical designer Robert Adam supplied designs for both Moorfields and Axminster carpets based on Roman floor mosaics and coffered ceilings. Some of the most well-known rugs of his design were made for Syon House, Osterley Park House, Harewood House, Saltram House, and Newby Hall. Six of Axminster carpets are known as the "Lansdowne" group. These have a tripartite design with reeded circles and baskets of flowers in the central panel flanked by diamond lozenges in the side panels. Axminster Rococo designs often have a brown ground and include birds copied from popular, contemporary engravings. Carpets will forever be associated with the town of Kidderminster in Worcestshire, United Kingdom. This was the heart of the UK carpet industry throughout the industrial revolution. Even now, a large percentage of the 55,000 population town still seek employment in this industry.

Related Topics:
Flemish - Calvinist - England - Claude Passavant - Thomas Moore - Thomas Whitty - Robert Adam - Syon House - Osterley Park House - Harewood House - Saltram House - Newby Hall

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Scandinavian carpets

The traditional Scandinvian carpet is the rya, made from hand-knotted wool. Dating from the 15th century, the first ryas were coarse, long-piled, heavy covers used by fishermen instead of furs. The rugs became lighter and more ornamental. By the 19th century they were often splendid festive tapestries. Now, the rya is a painting in textile, with individual artists identifiable by the colors, patterns and techniques.

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