Real Fábrica de Tapices: Inside Madrid’s Royal Tapestry Archives
For many textile researchers, designers and historians, the archive provides the first point of entry. At the Real Fábrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory) in Madrid, this instinct is rewarded with unusual depth. Founded in 1721, the Royal Tapestry Factory holds more than three centuries of material, graphic and documentary evidence tracing the development of tapestry and rug making in Spain. Its current Neo-Mudéjar building, established in the late nineteenth century near the Retiro, was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2006, recognising both its architectural presence and the continuity of the work carried out within its walls.
Production of a tapestry at Real Fábrica de Tapices. Image: Real Fábrica de Tapices
The archives are organised into two principal collections. The Historic Archive documents the daily activity of the Factory across generations, while the Graphic Archive preserves pasteboards and sketches that guided the production of some of Spain’s most significant tapestries. Together, they reveal the long relationship between artists and weavers, from Francisco de Goya’s early designs to later collaborations with modern painters, offering insight into tapestry as a medium shaped by translation from drawing to thread.
Archival carpet restoration. Image: Real Fábrica de Tapices
Beyond the archive, the Factory’s workshops extend this history into the present. Tapestries and rugs continue to be woven by hand, following working methods established in the eighteenth century. Production begins with the preparation of a full-scale pasteboard, then moves through carefully dyed wool and silk, woven at a high density to achieve tonal precision. Each square metre may take many months to complete, reflecting the slow accumulation of labour embedded in the finished surface.
Use of traditional tools and techniques forms part of the authentic production and restoration process. Image: Real Fábrica de Tapices
The tools of this labour remain close at hand. Cops, distaffs, scoops and winders form part of the Factory’s collection, situating the finished textiles within the practical realities of making. These objects underscore the continuity between past and present practice, where knowledge is carried through hands as much as through documents.
A 17th-century tapestry in the Teniers room, from the series "Los hechos de los apóstoles", and a 19th-century carpet. Image: Germán Saiz.
At the centre of the grounds, the dyer’s garden offers another form of archive. Planted with species historically used for dyes and fibres, it brings together plants from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia. Madder, woad and chamomile speak to long histories of colour, trade and cultural exchange, connecting the Factory’s material practices to wider global narratives of migration, experimentation and adaptation.
Taken together, the Real Fábrica de Tapices reads as a layered record of textile knowledge. Archive, workshop and garden operate in dialogue, allowing tapestry to be understood as a living practice shaped by time, material and sustained attention. The site invites close looking, rewarding those interested in process, continuity and the persistence of craft traditions.
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Discover more textile museums, galleries, and historical points of interest on the Selvedge Community 'Collections and Archives' page.
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Image Credits:
Lead: Dyed wools in the store of the Real Fábrica de Tapices. Courtesy of Real Fábrica de Tapices.
All further images as credited in photo captions.