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11149

Portuguese Needlepoint

Circa 1940
335 × 242 cm 10’11” x 7’11”
£12,500

Description

An elegant and muted Antique Portuguese Needlepoint, circa 1940 woven in the village of Arraiolos, Southern-Portugal.  A light off white to sandy tone background canvas with an indigo blue border and woven with amazing large birds.  A lovely design and the weaver clearly had a lot of enjoyment producing this piece.

Gently cleaned by our workshop recently, it has brightened up and is such a pretty decorative carpet.  We love Portuguese needlepoints, and this one would look very much at home in a variety of rooms.  Nice original condition with a couple of old repairs.

Arraiolos is where these Portuguese needlework carpets are from a town in the province of Alto Alentejo in southern Portugal.  The weave on this needlepoint is Arraiolos long-armed cross-stitch along with hand dyed wool using natural dyes. The Portuguese are also known for weaving specific types of Portuguese rugs that are called Alpujarras Rugs.

Portuguese Needlepoint carpets differ from traditional Persian carpet weaving in that they produced using a tapestry needle and are created using diagonal stitches on the carpet’s jute or wool canvas. They have a larger wool knot because of this technique.  The elegant floral patterns are actually created by changing the colours of the wool.  Where as traditional Persian carpets are woven on a vertical loom, where the warp is strung vertically and the weft and knots go across the warp.

The tradition of weaving needlepoint rugs goes as far back as 1492 in Spain, Queen Isabella had weavers create beautiful chair coverings, bed head boards and floor coverings. Queen Isabella expelled the Jews in the same year and many of them ended up in Arraiolos in Southern-Portugal.

If you would like to view this beautiful antique Portuguese Needlepoint at home, you can request a home visit and select a preferred day and time.  Alternatively please do organise a visit to our barn showroom in the picturesque village of Crondall in Surrey.

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We offer the service of viewing any of our carpets & rugs in-situ in London, Surrey, Hampshire & the UK by appointment. Please request a home visit to see this lovely antique Portuguese needlepoint in-situ at a convenient time.

These Portuguese needlepoints are renowned for their embroidered work in wool on jute or linen. Portugal doesn’t have an extensive history in producing hand-woven carpets although Moorish carpet weavers worked in Portugal until the early 15th century until they were expelled.  These floor coverings from Portugal are unique and feature pile in loops, made primarily in Spain from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century in the Alpujarras district, which is located south of Granada.

Once Queen Isabella expelled the Jews in 1492, they headed to Arraiolos, the women brought their expertise and knowledge of weaving needlepoints with them.  They started weaving needlepoint carpets to make a living and the women used to weave them in the village on the porch steps in the glorious sunshine! Many of the designs reflect tile work throughout Spain and Portuguese architecture.  They are still woven in Portugal today, and you can see women weaving in groups producing beautiful carpets.

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