- Axminster carpet
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/aks"min'steuhr/a machine-made carpet having a cut pile and an intricate design of many colors.[1810-20; named after town in SW England where manufactured]
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Floor covering produced in a factory founded at Axminster, England, in 1755 by the cloth weaver Thomas Whitty.The carpets were knotted in wool on woolen warps, with wefts of flax or hemp, and featured Renaissance architectural or floral patterns. The factory closed in 1835 with the advent of industrial weaving machines. The name survives as a generic term for all machine-made carpets with pile similar to velvet or chenille.* * *
floor covering made originally in a factory founded at Axminster, Devon, England, in 1755 by the cloth weaver Thomas Whitty. Resembling somewhat the Savonnerie (Savonnerie carpet) carpets produced in France, Axminster carpets were symmetrically knotted by hand in wool on woolen warps and had a weft of flax or hemp. Like the French carpets, they often featured Renaissance architectural or floral patterns; others mimicked Oriental patterns. Similar carpets were produced at the same time in Exeter and in the Moorfields section of London and, shortly before, at Fulham in Middlesex.The Whitty factory closed in 1835 with the advent of machine-made carpeting. The name Axminster, however, survived as a generic term for machine-made carpets whose pile is produced by techniques similar to those used in making velvet or chenille.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
