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Society of Arts carpet premiums, 1757–59: Moore and Whitty share 1757; Whitty wins outright in 1759

Event · not yet checked at the source

Made by: Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (now RSA)
Date: 1757–1759
Place: London
Themes: Woven carpet

View at the source Cited in chapter 3, notes 7, 52

Cite this source

Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (now RSA). “Society of Arts carpet premiums, 1757–59: Moore and Whitty share 1757; Whitty wins outright in 1759,” 1757–1759. axminsterheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/the-story-of-axminster-carpets.pdf.

Research notes

Prizes for English 'Turkey' (knotted) carpets to rival imports and the French. 1757: Thomas Moore of Moorfields made the finest carpet but at forty guineas; Whitty's at £15 was judged best value, and the prize was split. 1758: Whitty shared again, with Claude Passavant of Exeter (Axminster Heritage) or 'Peter Parisot of Exeter' (Christie's, Sotheby's), a name conflict. 1759: Whitty won outright (Christie's, Sotheby's). One Christie's note gives 1753, likely an error. Habib's 2005 article records parallel Edinburgh society premiums for carpets in 1755. Why it matters: shows that in the 1750s the fashionable push was for hand-knotted pile, at the same time that loom pile (Wilton, Brussels) was spreading at Wilton and Kidderminster. Sources: https://axminsterheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/the-story-of-axminster-carpets.pdf · https://axminsterheritage.org/the-birth-of-axminster-carpets/ · https://www.christies.com.cn/lot/lot-1479292 · https://sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/a-connoisseurs-collection-l13306/lot.471.html · https://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/psas/article/view/9650 Research note (Oct 2026): from search results; pages not opened.