Antique French Savonnerie Rug in Cream with Floral Patterns Rug & Kilim

This 10x13 antique French Savonnerie rug is a rare masterpiece from our European rug collection. Hand knotted in wool circa 1850-1860, its design enjoys floral patterns of an elegant...

This 19x19 antique Aubusson rug is an exciting new addition to Rug & Kilim’s European rug collection—a masterpiece of the French Neoclassical flatweave style, handwoven in wool and o...

During the early seventeenth century, a weaver named Pierre DuPont travelled to the Levant. Upon his return, he claimed to have discovered the technique of creating Turkish rugs. Oriental rugs were extremely expensive during Bourbon times, and a French manufactory that could create the same type of rug would lower the price significantly. Henri VI of France–the reigning monarch at the time–took advantage of DuPont’s skills and established a workshop for him at the Louvre. In 1627, King Louis XIII founded a manufactory for DuPont and his apprentice, Simon Lourdes, on the site of a defunct soap factory in the sixteenth arrondissement (also known as Quai de Chaillot). The name “Savonnerie” was born from the French word “Savon” meaning “soap.” DuPont and Lourdes worked together, weaving rugs under a royal patent for the king and other nobles until they had a falling out and split up. Lourdes remained at the Chaillot location while DuPont went to his workshops in the Louvre, though both continued to make Savonnerie rugs. Antique rugs, French Savonnerie carpet, Beige Floral carpet...

This antique, circa 1900, French Savonnerie rug has a golden-brown field with a central eau-de-nil roundel containing a shaded ivory and red interlocking acanthus leaf vine, an outer...