AN ABBEYLEIX CARPET

The Abbeyleix carpet factory was established in 1904 by Yvo Richard Vesey, 5th Viscount de Vesci (1881–1958). The workshop quickly gained commercial success and famously supplied four carpets for the state rooms of the RMS Titanic. The Ushak-inspired design of the present lot is closely comparable to those being produced by G.K. Robertson and Gavin Morton in the Donegal workshop at the turn of the century. A Donegal carpet with almost the exact cartoon was offered in these Rooms, 21 November 2001, lot 96 and a carpet of similar design and palette is illustrated in Malcolm Haslam, Arts & Crafts Carpets, London, 1991, fig.66, p.105.