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Wool is an animal fibre, most often derived from sheep fleece. Wool was already being spun as early as 5,000 BC. In Roman times, wool, leather and linen were the main materials used to make clothes. With the progressive development of mechanical processes and the evolution of breeding techniques, wool became the economic lung of several countries in the Xth century, and again in the XIIth. Renowned for its thermal and sound insulation properties, wool also offers the advantage of absorbing moisture. It is a noble and timeless material, used from time immemorial for its strength and durability. PINTON uses local wool with shorter carded fibres, which make it fluffier and give it more volume, or a specific type of wool from New-Zealand with long combed fibres that are more resistant to heavy traffic. Both types of wool are spun (carded or combed) and dyed in the spinning plant located in Felletin. Whether they are made in 100% pure virgin wool or blended with other materials like linen, silk, bamboo, leather or many others, PINTON wool rugs and carpets bring comfort and quality.

The hand tufting technique is a process combining centuries-old skills and modern weaving tools. The canvas is perfectly stretched over an upright loom and the craftsperson transfers by hand the future design of the rug with the utmost precision. Threads are inserted manually, one by one, working with a gun on the back of the canvas, following the colours, the drawing and the different tuft heights. PINTON was one of the first manufactories to use the gun tufting technique to produce some of its rugs and carpets and is the only French workshop offering very high quality tufted rugs. With this technique, production times are reduced compared to the knotted stitch weave or point noué. Finally, hand tufting offers a large range of possible depths. Carving is the technique that consists in sculpting the wool and creating textures within the woven rug. Since the early 1990s, PINTON has been specialising in the production of hand tufted rugs for which it also collaborates with famous designers and artists.

Françoise Quardon is a French plastic artist. Born in Nantes in 1961, she studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Le Mans. Soon, she embarked in multiple, rather elusive, creations based on a sophisticated vision borrowing from DIY and mixing salvaged objects, photographs, furniture, videos, soundtracks or fabrics… Deliberately iconoclastic, she likes mixing genres and finds inspiration in literature, drawing on Franz Kafka as well as gothic novels and fairy-tales, philosophy, history or her own memories. Françoise Cardon is constantly renewing herself. After plastic arts, she tried her hand at glass, poetry, children’s literature as well as photography and video. Every time, her works are acclaimed, even if she remains difficult to label. Decorative arts are one of her favourite creative branches.

Françoise Quardon’s multifaceted artistic career led her to design a rug for PINTON under the art direction of Yves Sabourin, who gave her a new field for experimentation. This rug, Cache-Cache, was produced in 9 copies by the Édition division, solely dedicated to art and its great figures.