5' x 6'2" French Tapestry Oriental Rug | 17th Century Pictorial Reproduction | Wool and Silk Flat Weave

This 5' x 6'2" panel is a hand-woven tapestry reproduction of a 17th century French court scene, worked in wool with silk in the highlights over a cotton foundation. It is a true flat weave with no pile, so the surface reads almost like painted canvas: figures gathered on palace steps, a small dog at their feet, columns and a balustrade behind, all framed by heavy garlands of fruit and blossom. It is new and in perfect condition, never used, and it works equally well laid in a study or hung as wall art, as shown in the room photograph. A certificate of authenticity is included with every piece we ship.

Design and Motifs

The field is a theatrical narrative panel in the Baroque manner. At center a crowned figure in rose and cream drapery strides down a flight of stone steps, flanked on the right by 4 court ladies in towering coiffures and ruched gowns, and on the left by 2 bearded men in turbans beside a kneeling attendant with a water jug. A small spaniel crosses the lowest step, drawn with enough shading to show the fur direction. Architecture closes the background: fluted columns, a tasseled drape, a carved doorway. The border is not a repeating rug border at all but a Rococo frame, with swags of pomegranate, peach, grape and open blossom hanging from scrolled consoles, a lion mask at the upper corner, a blank charcoal cartouche crowning the top edge, and a lower panel of acanthus scrollwork and a small masked face. The outer edge finishes in a plain olive brown band.

A Muted Antique Palette of Ivory, Gold and Olive

The whole piece is keyed to a deliberately faded antique palette, the way a 300 year old wall hanging looks after generations of daylight. The ground is a warm ivory, almost oyster, with no hard white anywhere. Over it the weaver builds gowns in saffron, honey gold and ochre, shaded down into soft brown and dove grey so each fold turns believably. Accents are quiet rather than bright: a dusty rose on the central drapery, a pale celadon on a bodice, a muted blue grey in the shadows. The garlands carry the strongest color, deep olive and moss leaves against apricot, peach, soft coral and pale cream fruit. The silk in the mix catches light on the highlights of the drapery and the fruit, so the panel shifts tone as you walk past it. A charcoal brown cartouche and the olive outer band anchor the top and bottom of the composition.

Weaving Quality and Origin

This is a Chinese workshop tapestry made in the French Aubusson and Gobelins tradition, where the design is woven weft by weft and color changes are built by hand rather than printed. Faces are the test of this craft, and the close detail photographs show eyes, lips and hairlines rendered cleanly at small scale, which only happens with a fine weft count and a patient weaver. Being a flat weave, the panel is thin, light and supple, easy to hang from a rod or batten and easy to lay under a desk or console where a thick pile would be clumsy. If you are weighing it against other styles of handmade work, our guide on how a Persian rug differs from an Oriental rug is worth reading, and you can browse the rest of our hand-woven Oriental rugs alongside it.