Gobelins Royal Manufactory

Timeline

1. 1662–1663Gobelins estate, Paris · ParisTo reduce the outflow of foreign exchange spent on buying tapestries and furniture from Flanders and Italy, Colbert purchased the Gobelins property on the Bièvre for the Crown, consolidating scattered Parisian tapestry and furnishing workshops in one place. The king's first painter Le Brun served as director and chief designer from 1663, with weavers, painters, goldsmiths, and cabinetmakers all housed in the works.
2. 1667Gobelins Royal Manufactory · ParisIn 1667 the institution formally became the Royal Manufactory of Crown Furniture. On October 15 Louis XIV toured the works accompanied by Colbert, an event woven into Le Brun's 'History of the King' tapestry. Thereafter the 'History of Alexander,' 'The Seasons,' 'The Elements,' and large-scale weavings after Raphael and Poussin designs were produced exclusively for royal palaces and diplomatic gifts, establishing Gobelins as the benchmark of the European tapestry industry.
3. 1668–1697Gobelins Royal Manufactory · ParisThe roughly thirty years under Le Brun's direction were the manufactory's peak, producing hundreds of court tapestries, many woven with gold. After the War of the Grand Alliance exhausted the treasury, all craftsmen were dismissed in 1694 and the works closed for about five years, reopening in 1697 mainly for tapestry production. This close–stop–reopen cycle shows that royal manufacture was both a mercantilist model and directly constrained by Louis XIV's war finances.