A Floral Aubusson Carpet On A Midnight Ground, 19th Century

Composed of multiple woven panels seamlessly joined, this impressive Aubusson carpet displays the technical ingenuity and decorative flair for which the central French workshops became renowned. The black ground provides a dramatic stage for an array of floral bouquets: roses, tulips, cornflowers and peonies are arranged in medallions and sprays across the field, their pinks, crimsons, soft blues and pale yellows glowing against the dark backdrop. The outer border is enriched with scrolling garlands of blossoms and foliage, rendered in delicate shades of gold, jade green and sky blue, a framing device that intensifies the luxuriant, almost painterly effect.

Aubusson, in central France, had been a centre of tapestry weaving since the 16th century, and by the 18th and 19th centuries the ateliers had expanded into the production of carpets, often intended for grand aristocratic and bourgeois interiors. Woven in panels on relatively narrow looms, large-scale carpets such as this were pieced together with extraordinary precision to create monumental decorative surfaces. The style is deeply rooted in the Rococo and later Neoclassical taste for floral abundance, but with a refinement and softness particular to Aubusson.

This example, with its vivid palette and richly worked design, captures both the artistry and technical mastery of the Aubusson tradition. At once decorative and historical, it would lend grandeur to a dining room, drawing room or gallery space, its scale and vibrancy transforming any interior.