Gobelins manufactory

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The Manufacture des Gobelins is a tapestry factory located in Paris, France. It is in the Avenue des Gobelins, near the Les Gobelins metro station. It is best known as a royal factory supplying the court of Louis XIV and later monarchs; it is now run by 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 made into a general upholstery factory.

[edit] Royal factory

The Gobelins 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 made into a general upholstery factory, 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 Louis XIV's financial problems, the establishment was closed in 1694, but it was reopened in 1697 for the manufacture of tapestry, chiefly for royal use.

During the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon work at the factory 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 down by the Communards. The factory is still in operation as a state-run institution.

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 last two authors were directors of the factory.