Jacques Bousquet (1923-2019) - Archivist and Museum Initiator
The collection of traditional objects was launched.
Jean Delmas - Successor of Bousquet
Organised travelling exhibitions (1970-1977).
Origin and history
The Musée des arts et métiers traditionnels de Salles-la-Source is housed in an old wool mill built in the 1830s, by the departmental architect Étienne-Joseph Boissonnade. This remarkable building, covered with an overturned keel frame called the Philibert Delorme, used the local travertine and hydraulic force of the village waterfall. The mill, modernized in the 1840s, reached its peak between 1880 and 1890 with 120 workers producing up to 120,000 metres of sheet annually. Its decline began after World War I, before its definitive closure in 1959, a victim of industrial competition.
The creation of the museum dates back to the 1950s, carried by Jacques Bousquet and Jean Delmas, directors of the Departmental Archives of Aveyron. The latter collected tools, machines and testimonies of traditional wheeling trades, threatened by rural modernization. After travelling exhibitions (1970-1977), the project ended in 1978 with the cultural charter of Aveyron, designating the former spinning as a permanent site. The museum opened its first rooms in July 1979, labeled Musée de France and managed by the department.
The museum revolves around four thematic levels: the mineral world (potry, metallurgy), plant (agriculture, vine), animal (breeding, traction) and a room dedicated to the history of spinning. Its collections, enriched with reconstructed workshops (forgeron, cooper) and 19th-century textile machines, illustrate the rural and artisanal life of Rouergue. In 2018, it hosted 6,400 visitors, also offering temporary exhibitions, such as Les Aveyronnais dans la Grande Guerre (2014-2016) or Des mains pour penser (2017-2019), in partnership with the Soulages Museum.
The architecture of the building, classified for its innovative structure and its use of travertine, bears witness to the industrial ingenuity of the 19th century. The spinning was founded in 1825 by Henri Carcenac and his associates, exploiting the local waterfall to operate mills and looms. Purchased and modernized by Carcenac, it became a textile flagship before turning to military production in 1939. Today, the museum perpetuates the memory of these know-how, while valuing the Occitan heritage, such as the wine tools adapted to the slopes of Marcillac or the carts carrejador of the grape growers.
Propose an amendment
Temporary exposure
Le musée dispose d'une salle d'exposition temporaire et propose un cycle d'exposition temporaire varié et surprenant, permettant une relecture actualisée de ses collections. En 2022, c'est l'exposition temporaire Cochons : l'amour vache qui y est présentée.
Temporary animation
Chaque année le musée offre une programmation riche et variée et participe aux grands événements nationaux tels que les Journées européennes des métiers d'art en avril, la Nuit européenne des musées en mai, les Journées du patrimoine de pays et des moulins en juin et les Journées européennes du patrimoine en septembre. Tout au long de l'été, ainsi que pendant les vacances scolaires, le musée propose des animations et événements.
