A SAVONNERIE PILE CARPET

The present carpet is probably an exact copy of a rug from the Louis XVI period, although the original is no longer known. The border is exactly the same as that used on two carpets that are identical to each other, one in the Louvre, the other of which appeared on the New York Art market some years ago, that are thought to date from the later Louis XVI period (Sarah B. Sherill, Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America, New York, 1996, pp.88-89, pl.95). The field here is consistent in design with the Louis XVI period, but the colouring is slightly softer and the carpet does not use the dark dizaine warps that were the hallmark of Savonnerie carpets before the French Revolution.