展品专文
This incredible carpet belongs to an important and well-documented group of carpets with the same motif. Created by a major figure in the Empire style, it was woven by a leading workshop. Other known examples can be found today in the most prestigious imperial palaces in France and Russia.
The design
This carpet was originally designed by Jacques-Louis Hamayde de Saint-Ange (1780-1860); the original design is now in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Inv. CD 3264 66). The gouache was part of François Carnot's collection and was bequeathed to the museum in 1900. Jacques-Louis Hamayde de Saint-Ange was one of the leading tapestry and carpet designers of the French Empire. After studying with the architect Antoine Vaudoyer, he joined Charles Percier and Pierre-François Fontaine, then Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, who asked him to create designs for carpets and tapestries for the imperial workshops. After the fall of Napoleon I, Saint-Ange worked for the Garde Meuble de la Couronne. He designed some of the most important and beautiful carpets in France in the early 19th century.
Piat Lefebvre (1722-1801) began his career as a master goldsmith. In 1779, he opened a tapestry workshop in Tournai, which quickly became a huge success. His success enabled him to open large workshops in the former convent of the Poor Clares.
After Piat's death in 1801, his son Léopold (1769-1844) took over his father's workshop and continued to develop the business, innovating both technically and aesthetically. Thanks to its success, the workshop became the city's leading ‘employer’ and one of the most renowned carpet workshops in Europe.The Our Carpet corpus belongs to a very select group of carpets, as only three other examples are known. One of these was delivered by Bellanger in 1809 to the Imperial Palace in Fontainebleau, where it remains today in the ‘Grand Salon de l'Impératrice’. Another is in the Old Drawing Room at the Russian Imperial Palace in Pavlovsk. Another is in the collections of the Mobilier National in Paris.
The design
This carpet was originally designed by Jacques-Louis Hamayde de Saint-Ange (1780-1860); the original design is now in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (Inv. CD 3264 66). The gouache was part of François Carnot's collection and was bequeathed to the museum in 1900. Jacques-Louis Hamayde de Saint-Ange was one of the leading tapestry and carpet designers of the French Empire. After studying with the architect Antoine Vaudoyer, he joined Charles Percier and Pierre-François Fontaine, then Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, who asked him to create designs for carpets and tapestries for the imperial workshops. After the fall of Napoleon I, Saint-Ange worked for the Garde Meuble de la Couronne. He designed some of the most important and beautiful carpets in France in the early 19th century.
Piat Lefebvre (1722-1801) began his career as a master goldsmith. In 1779, he opened a tapestry workshop in Tournai, which quickly became a huge success. His success enabled him to open large workshops in the former convent of the Poor Clares.
After Piat's death in 1801, his son Léopold (1769-1844) took over his father's workshop and continued to develop the business, innovating both technically and aesthetically. Thanks to its success, the workshop became the city's leading ‘employer’ and one of the most renowned carpet workshops in Europe.The Our Carpet corpus belongs to a very select group of carpets, as only three other examples are known. One of these was delivered by Bellanger in 1809 to the Imperial Palace in Fontainebleau, where it remains today in the ‘Grand Salon de l'Impératrice’. Another is in the Old Drawing Room at the Russian Imperial Palace in Pavlovsk. Another is in the collections of the Mobilier National in Paris.