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Aubusson tapestry is tapestry manufactured at Aubusson, in the upper valley of the Creuse in central France. The term often covers the similar products made in the nearby town of Felletin, whose products are often treated as "Aubusson". The industry had probably developed since soon after 1300 in looms in family workshops, perhaps already run by the Flemings that are 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 by UNESCO. At that time the industry supported three workshops, and ten or so freelance weavers.
Felletin is identified as the source from which came the Aubusson tapestries in the inventory of
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
Aubusson tapestry is tapestry manufactured at Aubusson, in the upper valley of the Creuse in central France. The term often covers the similar products made in the nearby town of Felletin, whose products are often treated as "Aubusson". The industry had probably developed since soon after 1300 in looms in family workshops, perhaps already run by the Flemings that are 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 by UNESCO. At that time the industry supported three workshops, and ten or so freelance weavers.
Felletin is identified as the source from which came 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 wa ...
, Duchess of Valentinois and widow of Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia (; ca-valencia, Cèsar Borja ; es, link=no, César Borja ; 13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was an Italian ex- cardinal and '' condottiero'' (mercenary leader) of Aragonese (Spanish) origin, whose fight for power was a major ...
(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 and Jean-Baptiste Huet, many of pastoral Rococo subjects.Osborne, 61 Typically, Aubusson tapestries depended on engravings as a design source or the full-scale cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s 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 had moved there in September 1939, with Marcel Gromaire and Pierre Dubreuil
Pierre Dubreuil (March 5, 1872 – January 9, 1944) was a French photographer, born in Lille, who spent his career in France and Belgium. As a pioneer of modernist photography, Dubreuil embraced innovative techniques and ideas that were celebrat ...
.
''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.
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