The first stage in the history of the Moravská gobelínová manufaktura in Valašské Meziříčí dates back to the 19th century, when the author Rudolf Schlattauer materialized his idea of opening a tapestry-weaving workshop.

After training as painter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Schlattauer studied and practiced painting in other European cities, spending a period of time in Scandinavia.

Artistically, the school's initial period is associated with textile designs created by its director Rudolf Schlattauer: his tapestries, screens and furniture upholstery feature Art Nouveau motifs, shapes and ornamentation.

These included Dušan Jurkovič, Jan Kotěra and a large number of their students and followers, many of whom were engaged at the School for Fine Woodworking in Valašské Meziříčí after their Prague studies.

The fabrics produced under the directorship of Schlattauer's successor Jaro Kučera are characterized, in terms of style, by a decorativism Art Deco idiom and, thematically, by an espousal of figural subjects related to the newly established Czechoslovakia — to those of work and life in the young republic.

In the 1950s, a tapestry was made for the Triennale in Milan from a design by Pravoslak Kotík and another piece was produced from a pattern by Ludmila Kybalová for the World's Fair Expo '58 in Brussels.