Helena Almeida: 'Seduzir' [To Seduce, 2002] (detail)

Collection

Alfombra [Rug]

Image caption
ROYAL TAPESTRY FACTORY

Alfombra [Rug]

  • 1867
  • Fabric with symmetrical or Turkish knots
  • 1096 x 581 cm
  • Cat. A_158
  • Observations: Warp: wool. Weft: wool? Knot: wool. Weaving density: 15 knots/dm
By:
Antonio Sama

An excellent example of the magnificent rugs woven by the Real Fábrica de Tapices during the reign of Queen Isabella II of Spain (1833-1868). Its composition highlights the eclectic blend of influences that characterised decorative arts during her reign. The following marks are woven into the binding: 'Real Fca d.Tapices' and 'Livinio Stuyck MD 1867'. These certify that the rug was made at the royal works during the mandate of Livinio Stuyck y Martín as its director, near the end of the queen's reign.

The main field of the rug is decorated with a number of large, mixtlinear medallions made up of great rinceaux of golden acanthus plants. Their bright sky blue background contrasts with the immaculate white of the main field. There are also smaller rinceaux in blue which contain colourful bouquets of roses. Garlands of roses also form small medallions that serve to link the larger ones.

The main border comprises a number of diamond shapes alternating with golden fleur-de-lys stalks on a blue background. This contrasts with the bright, burgundy coloured interiors, decorated with smaller stalks, also in gold. At the corners are garlands of roses on a greenish-blue background, and the rug has a reddish, jasper-like selvedge.

The most striking things about this rug are its bright colours and its variegation, which is typical of the ornamental style of the 19th century. Alongside Rococo (the large acanthus stems) and Neoclassical elements (the garlands and bouquets of roses), the main border is reminiscent of the Empire style, but perhaps more of the storied frames used in Romantic painting and decoration. This eclectic decorative style contains hints of the designs by Amédée Couder for Aubusson rugs, though they are even more classical.

Item Nº 158 in the Banco de España Collection is woven with a standard knot density of 15 x 15/dm2, but the highlighting of the stalks and flowers is truly excellent, showing it to be the work of highly skilled weavers. The bright blues, greens and golds on some parts of the rug could only have been produced by expert wool dyers using natural dyes (as used at the Real Fábrica de Tapices up to around 1915). Elsewhere, however, the colours are markedly duller and more faded. As explained below, this is because the rug was extended well after the turn of the 20th century. Fortunately, the two original ends of the rug were maintained (with the marks woven into one end) and an extension was added in the middle to increase its length by around one third. This entailed adding the central medallion with the roses to the design.

The Historical Archives of the Real Fábrica de Tapices contain a magnificent cartoon (552 ALF) with a quarter sketch of what must have been the pattern for the original rug.

Antonio Sama

 
By:
Antonio Sama
Royal Tapestry Factory
Madrid 1721

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.

Antonio Sama