As a French gallery we are always very excited when we get to share with you some history and heritage of this beautiful country. So you can imagine how ecstatic we were when we heard from our favourite rugmaker, Jan Kath, that his latest collection titled Savonnerie Surprise, was based on the famous Savonnerie carpets manufactured in France at the beginning of the early 17th century.

The then ruling monarch King Henri IV was known as a friend of the arts.  At his request, the first royal manufacturers were established during this period, amongst them was a carpet manufacturer. Around 1609 the royal rug carpet manufacturer moved into an old soap factory located on the outskirts of Paris. It is from this location that the carpets take their eponymous name “soap factory; in French “Savonnerie”. Produced exclusively for the Crown, the Savonnerie carpets quickly became a status symbol and other hand-knotted carpets were soon being made all over the continent - from Vienna to Bonn and Mannheim to Madrid. 

Under Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, the arts and much else were taken to the extremes, and the production of Savonnerie carpets  flourished during the Baroque period. Staterooms in the Louvre and later in Versailles were lavishly decorated and considered models for courts throughout Europe. In the “Savonnerie Surprise” collection, Jan Kath continues the story, reinterpreting the old patterns and motifs to create new traditions.