The cultural importance, dependencies and mechanics of manufacture in Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution are understudied areas of research. In the case of French royal manufacture during the ancien régime, art-historical interest first awakened in the latter half of the nineteenth century with the publication of several descriptive texts that made archival sources available to a wider public. This volume on the Manufacture royale des meubles de la couronne aux Gobelins examines the current state of research on the royal workshops and indicates the manner by which this research can both extend and challenge the prevailing trends in the historiography of the Gobelins.

Dr. Florian Knothe studies and teaches the history of decorative arts in the 17th and 18th centuries with particular focus on the social and historic importance of royal French manufacture. Dr. Knothe started his career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art focusing on European Sculpture and Decorative Arts before he oversaw the European and East Asian collections at The Corning Museum of Glass. He now serves as Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, and teaches for the university’s Faculty of Art and Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences.