Visiting the Royal Tapestry Factory

1713 was not a good year for Spain.  They lost control of Flanders which was a main source of textile and tapestry manufacture.  And carpets and tapestries were important for keeping castles at least tolerably warm.  So in 1721 the Spanish king set up the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid.  Today we went on a tour of the factory.  It's an impressive undertaking.  All work is done by hand and looks incredibly detailed.  The skilled workers transfer patterns to huge looms and then hand knot each strand.  The looms are impressively large.  Some of the early designs were done by Goya and are still used.  It can nearly a year to complete one square meter.  Nowadays, rather than producing for kings and princes the factory produces rugs and tapestries for private clients who often work with the factory on designs.  Aside from the artisans who are very impressive, one of the most impressive items were the rack upon rack of skeins of wool and silk dyed in sumptuous colors that were all around.