Mar 17 2008
Aubusson Carpets and Post-Modern Décor
While the very idea of woven decorative floor covering is virtually synonymous with the Oriental carpet, rugs have also been produced in Europe and the Americas for centuries. The foremost productions of this kind in Europe were the Aubusson tapestry rugs and the pile carpets of the Savonnerie manufactury of the eighteenth century, which virtually eclipsed the European taste for Oriental rugs until the 1880’s. For most of the twentieth century, however, circumstances were once again reversed. Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets, and their English cousins, the Axminsters, lived in the shadow Oriental carpets, although they continued to maintain a certain market niche. Aubussons became the quintessential symbol of traditional European décor. For those who still enjoyed the great period styles of Louis XV or Louis XVI, or their neo-classical successors, First and Second Empire, and English Chippendale, nothing could pull a room together more effectively than an Aubusson or a Savonneriet. Consequently, Aubusson, Savonnerie, and Axminster carpets tend to be associated with old fashioned, conservative taste.
Popularity: 43% [?]
Interior designer Philip La Bossiere asserts, “I am not a beige guy in any sense of the word” in reference to both his colorful interiors and his exuberant personality. He has spent the past twenty-plus years cultivating his reputation as a sincere, hands-on decorator with timeless and unexpected design schemes. Always excited by Continental furniture, either at auction or abroad, La Bossiere prefers strong contrasts, rich color schemes, and a dash of the exotic. He was educated at Parsons School of Design, and in apprenticeship to renowned designer David Barrett, where he learned to execute designs that are timeless without ever feeling conservative.