David’s Army Gathering to Besiege Rabba.
David and Bathsheba drapery (3rd piece),
Brussels, 1510-1515. Castle of Écouen,
Musée national de la Renaissance.
Let us now return to the institution in Paris under the reign of Louis XIII. After travelling from the Trinidad to the Jesuits, followed by the Palace of Tournelles, the Royal Palace, and the Louvre, the manufactory of Flemish tapestries was finally established, in 1630, in the house of the Gobelins. The immensely reputable house, dealing mostly in dyes, dated back to the 15th century; its works kept pace with weavers of the royal tapestry. At the time when the royal weavers took possession of the house of the Gobelins, the workshops were directed by Charles de Comans and Raphael de la Planche, sons of the Flemish workmen who were called by Henry IV in 1607 to found the establishment of Tournelles. But after some time, Raphael de la Planche left his associate to establish himself separately in the suburbs of Saint Germain[21]. As a replacement, Charles de Comans brought in Jean Jans from Oudenaarde in 1650, who received the title of King of Tapestry four years later.
During this time, a new workshop was established in the Tuileries Garden, in favour of Pierre and Jean Lefebvre, father and son, high-warp tapestry weavers, sent for from Italy in 1642 and initially housed in the Louvre.
It was in 1662 that Louis XIV and Colbert centralised all the workmen employed for the monarch at the Gobelins, not only including the tapestry weavers, but also the embroiderers, goldsmiths, casters, metal engravers and chasers, cabinetmakers, etc. The establishment became known as the Royal Manufactory of the Furniture to the Crown. In 1663, Charles Le Brun was named director, but the edict of foundation wasn’t published until 1667.
The direction of the manufacture of tapestries was initially entrusted to Jean Jans, and, added over time, Girard Laurent and Pierre and Jean Lefebvre, high-warp weavers, Jean de la Croix and Mozin, low-warp weavers. It may be useful to explain the parameters of these two styles, which were united in the Gobelins on various occasions, or separated in special workshops. Here, we borrow the excellent description of the looms given in the historical notice of Lacordaire.
In weaving tapestry, all the coloured threads necessary for the work cannot be carried from one end of the warp to the other, as in ordinary fabrics. There would be too great a loss of thread and too great a thickness in the fabric, as all the threads of each duite[22], although concealed, would have been imprisoned by the frame. It was necessary, therefore, to invent a partial weaving which economised the etoffes (it was thus they termed the woollen or silken threads destined to make the frame), overall avoiding the complications of ordinary weaving with a large number of threads and lessening the thickness of the tissue. This work is executed on looms, the warp of which is sometimes vertical and sometimes horizontal. The wood pieces of the framework, which are parallel with the warp and hold on one of the cylinder ends which has the warp rolled around it and the other end which on the woven fabric is rolled. First, these pieces of wood rise vertically, and then become parallel with the ground. From there arose the name of high-warp looms for the first mentioned loom, and of low-warp looms for the second, and thence the name of high- or low-warp weavers, according as the weaving was executed on one or the other description of loom.
We have already said that the smooth mats of both types of looms are worked on the reverse side; only raised velvet or high piled carpets can be worked on the right side because the manipulation for each thread being stopped and cut on the upper part occurs the same way, whether the thread is frequently used, as in the background, or it varies from one point to another, as in flowers and ornaments.