Savonnerie
Encyclopedia
The Savonnerie manufactory was the most prestigious European manufactory of knotted-pile carpet
s, enjoying its greatest period ca. 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 (French savon) on the Quai de Chaillot downstream of Paris
in 1615 by Pierre DuPont, who was returning from the Levant
.
Under a patent (privilège) of eighteen years, a monopoly was granted by Louis XIII
in 1627 to DuPont and his former apprentice Simon Lourdet, makers of carpets façon de Turquie ("in the manner of Turkey
"). Until 1768, the products of the manufactory remained exclusively the property of the Crown, and Savonnerie carpets were among the grandest of French diplomatic gifts.The ambassadors of Russia, Spain, Denmark, Siam and even an unauthorized "ambassador" from Persia were all presented with Savonnerie carpets (Standen).
The carpets were made of wool with some silk in the small details, knotted using the Ghiordes 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 leafy rinceaux against deep blue, black or deep brown grounds, within multiple borders.
to revive the French luxury arts, which had collapsed in the disorders of civil violence in the Wars of Religion
. French silver was being drained to the Levant
and Persia for the purchase of knotted-pile carpets. Among the craftsmen the king provided with studios and workshops in the galleries of the Louvre
itself, was Pierre Dupont. Dupont's La 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 both Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria
with 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 1664The contract was to Lourdet alone; Louis Dupont continued to occupy his royally-sponsored workrooms at the Louvre until 1671, when his workshop was established at the Savonnerie, independent of that run there by Lourdet's widow (Standen). under the general direction of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
, organized along lines similar to those employed in the Gobelins
and commissioning the unequalled series of thirteen carpets for the Galerie d'Apollon and ninety-three for the Grande Galerie of the Louvre
,The Grande Galerie à Bord de l'Eau that is the Louvre's present long paintings gallery. which, though all but one were completed by 1683, were never used, Louis XIV
's attention having become entirely fixed on Versailles
, while the Grand Galerie was now used for displaying maps and plans of fortifications rather than royal levée
s. Nevertheless, a fortune was spent on the carpets, which were paid for at the rate of 165 livres per aune, which measured 118.8 square centimeter/46 and a half square inches. The designs were from the king's painter Charles 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.
In its heyday, the Savonnerie took sixty orphans aged ten to twelve and apprenticed them for six years, at the end of which term, one would be granted the maîtrise while the others would remain journeymen
. The children were taught the art of design as well, a painter from the Académie coming 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 the Bâtiments du Roi
, Robert de Cotte
, its workers often unpaid, its looms frequently idle, though in 1712 it was made a Manufacture Royale.
During the 18th century attempts were made to update the manufactory's often retardataire designs, lightening and brightening the colors and introducing Rococo elements. In the later eighteenth century, Savonnerie produced panels for screens and firescreens and some wall-hangings. The Revolution
saw the factory's nadir; royal crowns, cyphers and fleurs-de-lys were cut from carpets that remained in storage as insignia of féodalité. The revival of the Savonnerie is due to the patronage of Napoleon, who commissioned carpets after 1805 in the Empire style. New cartoons were designed by Percier and Fontaine
and the old stock of drawings made their way into the collections of the new Louvre Museum. In 1825, the Savonnerie was incorporated with the Gobelins Manufactory
, and its independent existence came to an end.
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
s, enjoying its greatest period ca. 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 (French savon) on the Quai de Chaillot downstream of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1615 by Pierre DuPont, who was returning from the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
.
Under a patent (privilège) of eighteen years, a monopoly was granted by Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
in 1627 to DuPont and his former apprentice Simon Lourdet, makers of carpets façon de Turquie ("in the manner of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
"). Until 1768, the products of the manufactory remained exclusively the property of the Crown, and Savonnerie carpets were among the grandest of French diplomatic gifts.The ambassadors of Russia, Spain, Denmark, Siam and even an unauthorized "ambassador" from Persia were all presented with Savonnerie carpets (Standen).
The carpets were made of wool with some silk in the small details, knotted using the Ghiordes knot
Ghiordes knot
The Ghiordes knot or Turkish knot is one of the two most-used knots employed in knotted-pile carpets. In the Ghiordes knot, the colored weft yarn passes over the two warp yarns, and is pulled through between them and then cut to form the pile...
, 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 leafy rinceaux against deep blue, black or deep brown grounds, within multiple borders.
History of the manufacture
The pre-history of the Savonnerie manufacture lies in the concerns of Henri IVHenry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
to revive the French luxury arts, which had collapsed in the disorders of civil violence in the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
. French silver was being drained to the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
and Persia for the purchase of knotted-pile carpets. Among the craftsmen the king provided with studios and workshops in the galleries of the Louvre
Palais du Louvre
The Louvre Palace , on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, is a former royal palace situated between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois...
itself, was Pierre Dupont. Dupont's La 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 both Cardinal Mazarin and Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria was Queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish Infanta by birth...
with 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 1664The contract was to Lourdet alone; Louis Dupont continued to occupy his royally-sponsored workrooms at the Louvre until 1671, when his workshop was established at the Savonnerie, independent of that run there by Lourdet's widow (Standen). under the general direction of Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
, organized along lines similar to those employed in the Gobelins
Gobelins manufactory
The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...
and commissioning the unequalled series of thirteen carpets for the Galerie d'Apollon and ninety-three for the Grande Galerie of the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
,The Grande Galerie à Bord de l'Eau that is the Louvre's present long paintings gallery. which, though all but one were completed by 1683, were never used, Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
's attention having become entirely fixed on Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, while the Grand Galerie was now used for displaying maps and plans of fortifications rather than royal levée
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
s. Nevertheless, a fortune was spent on the carpets, which were paid for at the rate of 165 livres per aune, which measured 118.8 square centimeter/46 and a half square inches. The designs were from the king's painter Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun , a French painter and art theorist, became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art.-Biography:-Early life and training:...
, 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.
In its heyday, the Savonnerie took sixty orphans aged ten to twelve and apprenticed them for six years, at the end of which term, one would be granted the maîtrise while the others would remain journeymen
Journeyman
A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....
. The children were taught the art of design as well, a painter from the Académie coming 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 the Bâtiments du Roi
Bâtiments du Roi
The Bâtiments du Roi was a division of Department of the household of the Kings of France in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris.-History:...
, Robert de Cotte
Robert de Cotte
Robert de Cotte was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, he later became his brother-in-law and his collaborator...
, its workers often unpaid, its looms frequently idle, though in 1712 it was made a Manufacture Royale.
During the 18th century attempts were made to update the manufactory's often retardataire designs, lightening and brightening the colors and introducing Rococo elements. In the later eighteenth century, Savonnerie produced panels for screens and firescreens and some wall-hangings. The Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
saw the factory's nadir; royal crowns, cyphers and fleurs-de-lys were cut from carpets that remained in storage as insignia of féodalité. The revival of the Savonnerie is due to the patronage of Napoleon, who commissioned carpets after 1805 in the Empire style. New cartoons were designed by Percier and Fontaine
Percier and Fontaine
Percier and Fontaine was a noted partnership between French architects Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. Together, Percier and Fontaine were inventors and major proponents of the rich and grand, consciously archaeological versions of neoclassicism we recognize as Directoire...
and the old stock of drawings made their way into the collections of the new Louvre Museum. In 1825, the Savonnerie was incorporated with the Gobelins Manufactory
Gobelins manufactory
The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France, at 42 avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins métro station in the XIIIe arrondissement...
, and its independent existence came to an end.