Chinese Palace Rug
second half 19th century, 221 x 128 cm, North East China, Beijing or East Turkestan
A small-format palace rug with a silk pile and sections brocaded in metal. It shows a repeat of diamonds and octagons with royal blue outlines arranged in offset rows and enclosing metal-brocaded crosses or star-shaped blossoms on a metal-brocaded ground. The yellow field is decorated with a delicate swastika lattice. The border contains short diagonal stems in royal blue that each bear three blossoms and alternately point inwards or outwards.
Closely related in structure and materials (metal brocading, silk pile, cotton foundation), these rugs were produced for the rooms of the imperial palace in Beijing. It is uncertain whether they were woven in workshops in the Chinese capital or commissioned from East Turkestan, for instance from Khotan. It is feasible that production took place simultaneously in both locations. The characters inscribed in the upper finish provide details of the rug’s destination in the vast palace complex. An almost identical example was auctioned by us in 2006.
RIPPON BOSWELL, A 68, 18 November 2006, lot 77
Condition
Slight signs of age and wear. Good overall condition.
second half 19th century, 221 x 128 cm, North East China, Beijing or East Turkestan
A small-format palace rug with a silk pile and sections brocaded in metal. It shows a repeat of diamonds and octagons with royal blue outlines arranged in offset rows and enclosing metal-brocaded crosses or star-shaped blossoms on a metal-brocaded ground. The yellow field is decorated with a delicate swastika lattice. The border contains short diagonal stems in royal blue that each bear three blossoms and alternately point inwards or outwards.
Closely related in structure and materials (metal brocading, silk pile, cotton foundation), these rugs were produced for the rooms of the imperial palace in Beijing. It is uncertain whether they were woven in workshops in the Chinese capital or commissioned from East Turkestan, for instance from Khotan. It is feasible that production took place simultaneously in both locations. The characters inscribed in the upper finish provide details of the rug’s destination in the vast palace complex. An almost identical example was auctioned by us in 2006.
RIPPON BOSWELL, A 68, 18 November 2006, lot 77
Condition
Slight signs of age and wear. Good overall condition.
