Manufacture de la Savonnerie, Paris

Generally even 5mm + pile overall. Very minor areas down to knot-bars. Vertical strip of mixed pink and white wool abrash, visible in the photograph. Minor areas of harp stringing, and areas of rewefting visible as 'kinked' rows in the pile. Areas of shaped repair/repiling to cerise ground, visible in the top and bottom right section, as the different coloured pink, as visible in the photograph, and some small circular areas of similar repair, centre of lower field. Tiny hole (straight split - approx. 6cm. long) in main field, centre of lower section, some other small scattered holes, suggesting that foundation is somewhat brittle - carpet definitely requires a thorough cleaning. Pretty light coloured border, and two shades of yellow to the outer edge. Carpet is fully lined and has velcro attached around the edge (to keep in place in the past). Versatile dimensions and attractive piece. This lot will be sent to Greenford Park Warehouse immediately after the auction. Condition Report updated 21st May 2012
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Jacques-Louis de La Hamayde de Saint-Ange-Desmaisons (known as Saint-Ange (1780-1860) was the most influential designer of Savonnerie carpets during the second half of the First Empire (1804-1814) and most of the Bourbon Restoration period (1814-1815. Saint-Ange studied with Neoclassical designers, Charles Percier and Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, and later designed for the porcelain manufactory at Sèvres and for the Gobelins. He was appointed designer at the Mobilier Impérial in 1816, and later under the new regime at the Mobilier de la Couronne. It was in this role that he designed carpets for Savonnerie (1810-1831). His Neoclassical designs were widely imitated by the well known workshops, including Beauvais and Aubusson, and many were of comparable quality.  The cartoons for the designs were obtained by the workshops, and this included by the independent workshops of Aubusson, from French Government agencies and were often those used by the Savonnerie. Identifiable motifs from Saint-Ange's lithograph designs for the woven carpets include the large central medallions and `rose moresque', scrolling ribbon bound floral borders, scrolling colourful acanthus leaves, corner roundels, flowering stem borders, flower filled cornucopiae, and the use of shades of rose pinks and golden yellows against green or cerise main field grounds.

For examples of his motifs in gouache designs, and for an example of a carpet influenced by the Saint-Ange designs, see Sherrill, Sarah B, Carpets and Rugs or Europe and America, Abbeville Press, 1996, pg. 92, pl.99, Bourbon Restoration Savonnerie Carpet, circa 1820.  For a comparable carpet of around the same date, with the same corner elements in the main field, and the running border within the main field, see Sotheby's, New York, 24^th September 1991, lot 296, Aubusson, circa 1825, (approx. 648 by 566cm), Provenance The Charleston Museum.