IMPORTANT EUROPEAN CARPET, SAVONNERIE OR BEAUVAIS MANUFACTORY, CIRCA 1785 Cm 175X229 Evident signs of time, cuts, wear, very delicate parts AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN RUG, SAVONNERIE OR BEAUVAIS, CIRCA 1785; WEARS, DAMAGES The open and intricate pattern, together with the particular colouring of this rug, suggests a possible attribution to the Beauvais workshop rather than to the Savonnerie manufactory. A specimen from Beauvais, formerly part of the collection of Hdona Kubinstein, shows the same unusual dimensions and a similar rendering of the decorative motifs depicted here (For an illustration see Verlet, P., The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, The Savonnerie, 1982, p. 134, fig. 79). Another Beauvais carpet, in the Musée du Louvre, shows a border with a Greek motif similar to that of the present example (ibid., p. 133, fig. 78). The general design style, colour range and structure of the present carpet can also be found in at least two Savonnerie artefacts from the Louis XVI period, made from the same cartoon: one preserved in the Musée du Louvre (ibid., p. 135, fig. 80) and one belonging to a private Parisian collection (sold by Sotheby's New York, 21 May 1992, lot 117). In particular, the carpets from the Louvre and the Parisian collection feature a border with a simplified Greek wave motif, executed in a similar manner to the Greek key motif on the example in question. All three carpets also share an outer green-brown border with an open background. Verlet speculates that the two Savonnerie examples cited above were woven from a cardboard originally intended for the Beauvais workshops (op. cit., p. 135). Unfortunately, both Savonnerie and Beauvais employed almost identical weaving techniques, making it difficult to distinguish their respective productions on the basis of structural characteristics alone. However, most of the Beauvais carpets known today are signed, suggesting a good probability that the present example is a Savonnerie production dating from the late 18th century.