The Real Fábrica de Tapices ['Royal Tapestry Factory'] officially commenced operations in 1721. It was founded at the instigation of Philip V and his advisers, especially Cardinal Alberoni.
The need for a tapestry works for the court in Madrid arose following the War of Succession and the treaties of Utrecht-Rastatt in 1713-1714, which brought an end to the Spanish crown's dominion over Flanders. The leading tapestry works of the time were located in the south of the Low Countries, so the loss of these last Flemish territories cut the Spanish monarchy off from its usual suppliers. As a result, Spain's first monarch from the House of Bourbon decided to opt for local production and avoid the need for imports. He sent for the Vandergotens, a family of expert Flemish weavers, who arrived in Madrid in the summer of 1720.
Headed by the patriarch, Old Jacob, the Antwerp-based family set up their looms in large old house outside the city walls known as the Casa del Abreviador ['House of the Breviator']. Its proximity to the Santa Bárbara Gate led the location to be known as the 'Fábrica de Santa Bárbara' ['Santa Barbara Works'].
At first it was entirely state-run, i.e. funded directly by the crown, but within 20 years financial difficulties and management problems led to its management system being restructured. In 1744 the works ceased to be a state-owned enterprise and began to work under a system of contracts regulating its links to the crown. This enabled it to run as a private business.
Originally, the Real Fábrica focused mainly on producing tapestries, but it soon diversified: first into the maintenance and restoration of the textiles in the royal collections, then (around the last quarter of the 18th century) into the production of knotted rugs and finally, well into the 19th century, into the manufacturing of heraldic banners.
The Real Fábrica de Tapices has been through numerous difficult patches, but it continues to operate today, making it one of the very few surviving royal manufacturing works set up under the mercantile spirit of the Enlightenment in Europe.
In 1888 it moved to a new, purpose-built workshop, where it still remains. At the end of 1996 the old manufacturing works changed its legal form, becoming a not-for-profit private foundation run by a governing board made up of representatives of various public-sector bodies.
The Real Fábrica de Tapices ['Royal Tapestry Factory'] officially commenced operations in 1721. It was founded at the instigation of Philip V and his advisers, especially Cardinal Alberoni.
The need for a tapestry works for the court in Madrid arose following the War of Succession and the treaties of Utrecht-Rastatt in 1713-1714, which brought an end to the Spanish crown's dominion over Flanders. The leading tapestry works of the time were located in the south of the Low Countries, so the loss of these last Flemish territories cut the Spanish monarchy off from its usual suppliers. As a result, Spain's first monarch from the House of Bourbon decided to opt for local production and avoid the need for imports. He sent for the Vandergotens, a family of expert Flemish weavers, who arrived in Madrid in the summer of 1720.
Headed by the patriarch, Old Jacob, the Antwerp-based family set up their looms in large old house outside the city walls known as the Casa del Abreviador ['House of the Breviator']. Its proximity to the Santa Bárbara Gate led the location to be known as the 'Fábrica de Santa Bárbara' ['Santa Barbara Works'].
At first it was entirely state-run, i.e. funded directly by the crown, but within 20 years financial difficulties and management problems led to its management system being restructured. In 1744 the works ceased to be a state-owned enterprise and began to work under a system of contracts regulating its links to the crown. This enabled it to run as a private business.
Originally, the Real Fábrica focused mainly on producing tapestries, but it soon diversified: first into the maintenance and restoration of the textiles in the royal collections, then (around the last quarter of the 18th century) into the production of knotted rugs and finally, well into the 19th century, into the manufacturing of heraldic banners.
The Real Fábrica de Tapices has been through numerous difficult patches, but it continues to operate today, making it one of the very few surviving royal manufacturing works set up under the mercantile spirit of the Enlightenment in Europe.
In 1888 it moved to a new, purpose-built workshop, where it still remains. At the end of 1996 the old manufacturing works changed its legal form, becoming a not-for-profit private foundation run by a governing board made up of representatives of various public-sector bodies.