Description
A beautiful antique Arts and Craft Donegal carpet with a wonderful all over floral design with lattice work. The dyes used to weave this carpet over 130 years ago are quite remarkable, using vivid pale blues, stunning greens and varying shades of pink, red tones. Reminiscent of William Morris designs, this all over open pattern with stylised flowers and lattice work is subtle and elegant. In good condition in general with a soft wool pile height over the main field area.
Losses to the sides, as it would have had another minor border running around the main border. This has been lost at some point and secured well. A couple of areas in the corners have been re-woven at some point too, as they have faded in colour. This could be re-dyed to match the pinky red dyes better if needed, as our restoration workshop has done this work before and it works well. These antique Donegal carpets are sought after by collectors and decorators alike, so getting rarer to find.
The first Donegal carpets were made in the late 1890s when the Scottish industrialist, Alexander Morton, opened a factory in Killybegs. Morton was head of a textile manufacturing firm in Ayrshire. Although his factories already made machine-woven rugs, he wanted to make handmade carpets like those popular from Turkey and Persia. A chance meeting with a member of Ireland’s Congested Districts Board pointed him towards Donegal. The county had two things to offer: a ready supply of willing workers and an almost infinite number of sheep.
Please request a home visit to choose a suitable time and day to view this antique arts and craft carpet in-situ. We offer the service of viewing any of our carpets & rugs anywhere in the UK, having travelled nationwide since 1990.
The workers, who were mostly women, hadn’t made carpets before but many of them had worked in lace-making and embroidery. The local sheep farmers, spinners and dyers got in on the act. The carpets were handwoven in the same way as Turkish and Persian carpets. They couldn’t afford the carpets that they made but the enterprise was a big source of employment. The Killybeg’s factory was followed by others at Kilcar, Annagry, and Crolly. By 1906, the four employed 600 between them.
Later designs used the stylised floral patterns of the British Arts and Crafts movement. Those by the architect and designer Charles Voysey were especially popular. The company also made a number of carpets in the Celtic Revival style. Donegal carpets were purchased for Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and the White House in Washington. These early carpets are very valuable indeed.
