ITHACA
"with cream ground and trellis border, loo table with pillar and claw legs, hearth with massive firebrasses and ormolu mantel chronometer clock, guaranteed timekeeper with cathedral chime," (U17.1526)
Axminster carpets became the benchmark for wealthy aristocrats to have in their country homes and town houses, between 1755 and 1835. In 1800, the company wove a large carpet for the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II, that was displayed in the Topkapi. In 1828, fire destroyed the weaving looms. In 1835 Samuel Whitty (the founder's grandson) declared bankruptcy. Blackmores of Wilton, Wiltshire, near Salisbury, bought the remaining stock and looms and extended their business to include hand-knotted carpets, which were still called Axminsters.
