Aubusson

[ oh-buh-suhn, -sawn; French oh-by-sawn ]

noun

1. an ornate rug constructed in a flat tapestry weave, often in pastel colors.

Aubusson

/ obysɔ̃ /

noun

1. a town in central France, in the Creuse department: a centre for flat-woven carpets and for tapestries since the 16th century. Pop: 4662 (1999)

adjective

1. denoting or relating to these carpets or tapestries

Word History and Origins

Origin of Aubusson¹

First recorded in 1960–65; after Aubusson, town in central France where made

Example Sentences

It’s one of a series of rugs he created in collaboration with the prestigious Robert Four atelier in the French weaving capital of Aubusson, in the tradition of the ornate carpets beloved by European royalty since the 16th century.

From New York Times

Giambattista Valli did it by navigating between the French youthquake of the 1960s and ’70s and the classic decorative arts, though his abbreviated minidresses in Aubusson prints, wide-angled flares and mousseline gowns seemed mostly trapped — not in amber but in his preferred rose-tinted lens.

From New York Times

In the entrance hall, there’s an 18th-century marble bust of the Roman consul Menenius Agrippa, while in the Getty Studio, a sitting room, an intricate Aubusson tapestry depicting a woodland scene hangs on the wall, opposite a 17th-century wooden sacristy cabinet.

From New York Times

Hillwood, a private museum, opened to the public in 1977 after Ms. Post’s death, and displays her predominantly 18th- and 19th-century French and Russian art collection, featuring the work of Fabergé, Sèvres porcelain, Gobelins tapestries and Aubusson carpets.

From New York Times

The interiors likewise reject the local idiom of Aubusson carpets and gilt-edged bergères, instead combining Asian influences and contemporary furnishings, such as lacquered Chinese screens and metallic 1970s objets, an intuitive mix-and-match aesthetic that Desselle comes to honestly.

From New York Times