A rare Arbus Aubusson carpet,

Designed by André Arbus (1903-1969). French, circa 1948.

Signed: A.A.

Length: 11ft 1in (338cm) Width: 5ft 2in (158cm)

Working in the traditional mode of Ruhlmann, his successor, Arbus designed furniture with elegant pure lines and without ornament. Arbus's furniture was displayed at the 1925 Paris Exhibition of Decorative Arts to much acclaim.

The design of this carpet is derived from antique Roman mosaic floors and from its Renaissance interpretation as strapwork, an ornamental architectural pattern resembling carved fretwork of leather combined with arabesques and applied in many of the decorative arts. In the late 1930s, such classicism came back into vogue as a reaction against the moderne, though sometimes combined with surrealism and the theatrical. The simplicity and elegance of classicism, treated in a contemporary manner, was thought appropriate to modern interiors because of its timeless quality.

Most carpets designed by Arbus tend to come with just corner designs on empty grounds, which are somewhat aesthetically lacking, the present carpet is an exception as it comes with a full blown design covering the entire field.

We are fortunate in having a copy of the original invoice from the commission for Monsieur M of 1948 and also a copy of the hand drawn sketch by Arbus featuring the carpet in-situ.

There is a similar carpet, commissioned in 1946 for the Chateau de Rambouillet and later, in 1949, placed in the king’s bedroom at the Palais de l’Elysée. Another carpet of similar design, from the Karl Lagerfeld collection, was previously also in our collection.

Provenance: Monsieur M. Paris.

Literature:

Georges Valdemar, Andre Arbus, Editions Art et Industies, Paris, 1948, plates 27 & 28 (illustrates possibly the same carpet).

Yvonne Brunhammer, André Arbus, Architecte-Decorateur des années 40, edition Norma, Paris, 1996, p248.