Since at least the fifteenth century, the French town of Aubusson has been famous for its extraordinary carpets and tapestries. Aubusson is the birthplace of some of the very finest rugs ever produced in Western Europe. Already a long-established centre of rug making by the eighteenth century, when evolving European sensibilities and tastes shifted from a preference for Oriental rugs toward a preference for more traditionally European styles, Aubusson was the natural place to turn for new pieces. Setting the trend for the explosion in popularity of Aubusson rugs during the eighteenth century were some famous leaders of France, including Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte.