Carpet
Thomas Whitty (1713 - 1792)
Category
Carpets, rugs and mats
Date
circa 1800
Materials
Wool
Measurements
6030 mm (Width); 8600 mm (L)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 609955
Summary
A large rectangular wool carpet with a central oval medallion and floral border to reserves containing signs of the zodiac. The carpet has a wide outer batwing border in blue with foliate scrolls. Rosette and acanthus leaf spandrels are woven against a black ground. The carpet has a geometric border. The carpet was designed by Thomas Whitty and manufactured by Axminster circa 1800. The Axminster carpet factory was founded by Thomas Whitty in 1755 and dominated the English carpet market, supplying large carpets to English royalty and aristocracy by whom they were greatly prized. The Axminster carpet had been purchased by Thomas Noel-Hill, 8th Lord Berwick (1877-1947) for Attingham Hall some time before March 1913. It was damaged and had been badly repaired, which possibly indicates that he acquired it from a house sale, although no records have been found of where he purchased it from. The carpet was sent to Colling & Young of London for restoration. It was protected against moths and packed for transportation to Attingham in November 1914. The carpet was laid in the Dining Room around 1920, probably after the tenancy of the Van Bergens; a Dutch-American family who the 8th Lord Berwick let Attingham Hall to during the First World War. Its predecessor in the Dining Room was red and in a letter to her mother dated 6th December 1925 Teresa, the 8th Lady Berwick (1890-1972) referred to moving 'the big red carpet (which used to be in the Dining Room)' to the Museum (now referred to as the Outer Library). A similar carpet by Thomas Whitty was made for the Saloon at Saltram in 1770 (Wolf Burchard, National Trust Furniture Research Curator 2015-2018, in 'Country Life', December 2018 12/19)
Provenance
Attingham collection; bequeathed to the National Trust with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Makers and roles
Thomas Whitty (1713 - 1792)