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as it is placed below the warp; in some instances when this was neglected, inscriptions may be read the wrong way or figures appear to be lefthanded. Of the French looms, Gobelin used only high-warp looms, Beauvais after 1720 only low-warp looms.

In 1667 Colbert installed the Manufacture royale des meubles de la couronne in the house which formerly belonged to Jean and Philbert Gobelin, merchant dyers of scarlet; in the same year the factories of Beauvais in Picardie and Aubusson in Auvergne were taken under the royal patronage. The Beauvais looms worked almost exclusively for the court; Louis XIV in person visits the factory in 1670 and the director, Jean-Baptiste Hinart (1664-1684), mentions with proud satisfaction that the king sat for his portrait which was to be worked on the looms. The second director, Philip Behagle (1684-1704), raised the standard of the Beauvais productions to a successful competition with the Gobelin factory and induced many of the latter's master weavers, who were compelled to leave intolerant Paris after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, to join his staff. Several magnificent sets of grotesque tapestries, such as the "Twelve Great Gods", the "Animal Tamers" and the "Italian Comedy" will always remain important documents for the study of the Louis XIV ornament.

The height of prosperity and fame was reached at Beauvais under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1734-1753) who himself designed numerous delightful small panels for furniture coverings and induced his friend, Francois Boucher (1703-1770), to paint cartoons which were to revolutionize the entire craft. The weavers' skill prompted them to compete with the painters themselves, the color range was incredibly augmented and silk thread used almost exclusively. From Boucher's cartoons were woven the "Loves of the Gods", the "History of Psyche", the "Comedies of Moliere" and the "Grandes Pastorales", all of which brought glory and financial profit to the Beauvais factory. Boucher's cartoons remained fashionable even after his death. The "Pastorales" in particular appealed to a court that delighted in 

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