Antique Axminster carpet (England)

Description

Period: Mid-19th century
Dimensions: cm 650 x 650

This is an imposingly large specimen of English carpet-making, which enjoys the same high prestige as French carpet-making.
A large medallion, framing a colourful bouquet of flowers, forms the centrepiece, and is surrounded first by a floral crown and, further out, by a sumptuous, mustard-coloured, square decoration. The reddish pink background features stylised shapes in a shade of burgundy.
The four bunches of flowers, one in the middle of each side, dominate the design. The inner part of the double border features a new motif, while the colour and pattern of the outer part reprises the central background.
In the four corners, a shield set inside a neo-Baroque plaque bears an eagle surmounted by a closed royal crown, while above the shield there is another crown, which might be interpreted as a margravial or patrician crown.
Extensive research suggests that this carpet was commissioned by the Alfieri di Sostegno family, on the grounds of both their historical and social importance, and their direct and indirect connections with England. Costanza Alfieri (1793-1862), sister of the minister Cesare Alfieri, married Marquis Roberto Tapparelli D’Azeglio. Their son, Emanuele D’Azeglio, was representative of the Government of Sardinia at the court of London in the middle of the century. In 1851, Cesare Alfieri’s son, Carlo (1827-1897), a future senator of the Kingdom, and a renowned big spender, married Giuseppina Benso di Cavour. While on honeymoon in May of that year, the couple were guests of their cousin, Emanuele D’Azeglio, in London, where they visited the Great Exhibition. The carpet is likely to have been commissioned on this occasion, or later through Emanuele D’Azeglio or some other contact established by Carlo Alfieri during his trip. Papers in the family archive, which can be consulted at the Italian State Archives in Turin, confirm the pan-European provenance of the furnishings commissioned for the family’s homes. This carpet is more than likely to have come from one of Carlo Alfieri’s residences: either San Martino Castle, or Santena Castle, which he inherited from the Benso family, or his home in Florence, where he founded the Institute of Social Sciences and where he died, some 20 years later, in 1897.

Axminster Carpets
Carpet production in Britain developed between the 16th and 19th centuries. It was aimed mainly at the national market, where carpets were seen as items of considerable luxury. In the wake of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, many French Protestant knotters moved to England, bringing fresh impetus to local manufactories. The mainly floral motifs were designed by architects, and reflected the European tastes of the period.