Gobelins manufactory

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The Gobelins manufacture is a manufacture of tapestry located in Paris, France. It is best known as a royal manufacture under reigns starting from Louis XIV; it is currently a service of the French Ministry of Culture.

The Gobelins were a family of dyers, who in the middle of the 15th century established themselves in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, Paris, on the banks of the Bièvre.

In 1662 the works in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, with the adjoining grounds, were purchased by Jean-Baptiste Colbert on behalf of Louis XIV and transformed into a general upholstery manufactory.

Royal manufactory

The Gobelins manufacture still produces some limited amount of tapestries for the decoration of French governmental institutions, with contemporary subjects. Here, a haute lisse loom.

Here, a basse lisse loom, used for smaller pieces.

In 1662 the works in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, with the adjoining grounds, were purchased by Jean-Baptiste Colbert on behalf of Louis XIV and transformed into a general upholstery manufactory, in which designs both in tapestry and in all kinds of furniture were executed under the superintendence of the royal painter, Charles Le Brun. On account of the pecuniary embarrassments of Louis XIV, the establishment was closed in 1694, but it was reopened in 1697 for the manufacture of tapestry, chiefly for royal use and for presentation.

During the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon the manufacture was suspended, but it was revived by the Bourbons, and in 1826 the manufacture of carpets was added to that of tapestry. In 1871 the building was partly burned by the Communists. The manufacture is still carried on as a state administration.

See Lacordaire, Notice historique sur les Manufactures impériales de tapisseries des Gobelins et de tapis de la Savonnerie, précédée du catalogue des tapisseries qui y sont exposées (Paris, 1853); Genspach, Répertoire détaillé des tapisseries exécutées aux Gobelins, 1662—1892 (Paris, 1893); J. Guiffrey, Histoire de la tapisserie en France (Paris, 1878—1885). The two last-named authors were directors of the manufactory.

Notes

• In French, "gobelin" also means goblin.

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