Empire Carpet: Models from the Marmottan Collection

Under the Empire, three large factories experienced intense activity: Savonnerie, installed in a former soap factory on the Chaillot hill, Aubusson, and Piat Lefebvre in Tournai, then a French city. Through the intact freshness of their colors, through the finesse and ingenuity of their designs, the models kept at the Marmottan library provide a dazzling repertoire of the productions that have made the reputation of these manufacturers. In this remarkable series of old watercolor models or “small projects” brought together by the Napoleonic historian and collector Paul Marmottan (1856-1932), most are attributed to Jacques-Louis de La Hamayde de Saint-Ange (1780-1860), better known as Saint-Ange. Appointed designer of the Imperial Furniture in 1810, he composed a number of decorative cartoons that the workers and craftsmen of the Savonnerie translated and executed. His production of models continued with the same abundance until the reign of Louis-Philippe.

21.5 x 25.5 cm

96 pages

ISBN: 978-2-9092-8386-9

Text in French only