Gobelin Tapestry
Preserved but no longer current.
So called from the Gobelins, a French family of dyers founded by Jean Gobelin (d. 1476); their tapestry works were taken over by Louis XIV as a royal establishment about 1670, and are still in the Faubourg St. Marcel, Paris. Part of the buildings were burned down by the Communards in 1871.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Gobelin Tapestry” mean?
So called from the Gobelins, a French family of dyers founded by Jean Gobelin (d. 1476); their tapestry works were taken over by Louis XIV as a royal establishment about 1670, and are still in the Faubourg St. Marcel, Paris. Part of the buildings were burned down by the Communards in 1871.
Is “Gobelin Tapestry” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.