Aubusson Portiere

At 1stDibs, there are many versions of the ideal aubusson portiere for your home. A aubusson portiere — often made from fabric, wool and silk — can elevate any home. Your living room may not be complete without a aubusson portiere — find older editions for sale from the 18th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 19th Century. A aubusson portiere, designed in the Louis XV, Louis XVI or Rococo style, is generally a popular piece of furniture. Many designers have produced at least one well-made aubusson portiere over the years, but those crafted by Aubusson Manufacture and Jean-Baptiste Pillement are often thought to be among the most beautiful.

Prices for a aubusson portiere start at $1,095 and top out at $24,000 with the average selling for $4,600.

Whether you hang them behind your bed as a dazzling alternative to a headboard or over the sofa as a large-scale focal point in the living room, vintage tapestries can introduce an array of textures and colors to any space in your home.

Woven wall hangings haven’t consistently enjoyed the popularity or earned the highbrow status that other types of wall decorations have over the years, at least not since the 1970s, which was somewhat of a heyday for tapestries. Today, however, these tactile works of art are seeing a renaissance, as modern weavers are forging new paths in the medium while the demand for antique and vintage tapestries continues to grow.

“We are drawn to texture in environments, and we see tapestries as a subtle layer of soft ornament,” says Lauren Larson of the New York design duo Material Lust. Indeed, and a lot of opportunity comes along when decorating with this distinctive brand of soft ornament.

Think of wall hangings as paintings created by hand with fabric instead of oil or watercolors. If you’re not simply securing your treasure to a wall with nails, pushpins or Velcro, tapestries can be stretched over a frame, used to create a canopy in a cozy living-room corner, hung from a rod or placed inside a shadowbox. And because this kind of textile art is hundreds of years old, options abound with respect to subjects and designs.

For richly detailed depictions of landscapes and garden scenes, look to antique Chinese tapestries and Japanese tapestries. Aubusson tapestries are ornate wall hangings manufactured in central France that are also characterized by romantic portrayals of nature. For weavers of mid-century modern tapestries, as well as those working in textile arts today, the styles and subject matter are too numerous to mention, with artists exploring experimental shapes, bold colors and provocative abstract designs.

Antique, new and vintage tapestries can make a room feel warm and welcoming — find yours on 1stDibs now.