Antique Portuguese Needlepoint, Arraiolos, Southern Portugal

Antique Portuguese Needlepoint, circa 1920 woven in the village of Arraiolos, Southern-Portugal.  A light off white to sandy tone background canvas is a wonderful base colour to allow the subtle gentle pinks, brick toned reds, and varying green and pale blue wool to create this flowing elegant floral design.  

In lovely original condition for its age, with only minimal losses to the fringe which flows all the way round a needlepoint.  This can be easily restored if required by our professional workshop.  Gently cleaned by our workshop recently, it has brightened up and is such a pretty decorative carpet.  We love the green border on this design, a rare colour to find in carpets, but found more frequently in needleworks.

Arraiolos is where these Portuguese needlework carpets are from a town in the province of Alto Alentejo in southern Portugal.  The weave on this needlepoint is Arraiolos long-armed cross-stitch along with hand dyed wool using natural dyes. The Portuguese are also known for weaving specific types of Portuguese rugs that are called Alpujarras Rugs.

Portuguese Needlepoint carpets differ from traditional Persian carpet weaving in that they produced using a tapestry needle and are created using diagonal stitches on the carpet’s jute or wool canvas. They have a larger wool knot because of this technique.  The elegant floral patterns are actually created by changing the colours of the wool.  Where as traditional Persian carpets are woven on a vertical loom, where the warp is strung vertically and the weft and knots go across the warp.

The tradition of weaving needlepoint rugs goes as far back as 1492 in Spain, Queen Isabella had weavers create beautiful chair coverings, bed head boards and floor coverings. Queen Isabella expelled the Jews in the same year and many of them ended up in Arraiolos in Southern-Portugal. 

These Portuguese needlepoints are renowned for their embroidered work in wool on jute or linen. Portugal doesn't have an extensive history in producing hand-woven carpets although Moorish carpet weavers worked in Portugal until the early 15th century until they were expelled.  These floor coverings from Portugal are unique and feature pile in loops, made primarily in Spain from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century in the Alpujarras district, which is located south of Granada.

If you would like to view this beautiful antique Portuguese Needlepoint at home, you can request a home visit and select a preferred day and time.  Alternatively please do organise a visit to our barn showroom in the picturesque village of Crondall in Surrey.

Farnham Antique Carpets are specialists in antique decorative carpets, rugs and runners. Varying from antique tribal rugs woven in the Caucasus to classical Persian carpets dating from the mid 19th century to the early 20th century.

As members of the BADA - The British Antique Dealers Association and LAPADA - The Association of Art & Antique Dealers we adhere to strict guide lines as affiliated members and pride ourselves on maintaining its high standards. We exhibit at the BADA fair in Chelsea, London every March and the LAPADA Fair in Mayfair, London every September.