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Lot Essay
The diagonally positioned fret-work lattice on the present carpet is placed on a pale camel background. Twenty voided auspicious bats fly from both sides towards the middle of the carpet and the flight direction changes in the middle of the carpet. The cusped medallion, with pointed sides and notched corners filled with a pair of confronting sinuous dragons, dominates the centre of the field but is balanced by a cusped spandrel at each corner filled with a single dragon.
The image of the dragon has a millenia old tradition in Chinese art and is recorded as early as the Shang dynasty, 13th–11th century BCE. This particular ''leaf' dragon form appears on two other carpets within the collection, (lot 141 and 149) with single figures at each corner gazing inwards towards the central medallion. A comparable kang carpet, featuring various forms of dragon, including the 'leaf', 'fret' and 'sinuous' form, is the Scofield Thayer carpet, formerly in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection (F. Spuhler, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Carpets and Textiles, London, 1988, no. 64, pp.232-3) sold at Sotheby's London, 6 November 2018, lot 89.
The use of a diagonal swastika lattice is relatively rare in this period but is seen on a small seating mat with bats in the Michael and Judy Steinhardt collection, New York, which was formerly with Thomas Cole. The same diagonal lattice appears on two kang carpets, one with Thomas Jones, Hong Kong the other formerly in the Michon collection, Paris, 1936, present owner unknown. The Michon carpet bears a striking resemblance to the present carpet with the same medallion, spandrels and border patterns, (Franses & König, op.cit., pl.3, note 70.)
The image of the dragon has a millenia old tradition in Chinese art and is recorded as early as the Shang dynasty, 13th–11th century BCE. This particular ''leaf' dragon form appears on two other carpets within the collection, (lot 141 and 149) with single figures at each corner gazing inwards towards the central medallion. A comparable kang carpet, featuring various forms of dragon, including the 'leaf', 'fret' and 'sinuous' form, is the Scofield Thayer carpet, formerly in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection (F. Spuhler, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Carpets and Textiles, London, 1988, no. 64, pp.232-3) sold at Sotheby's London, 6 November 2018, lot 89.
The use of a diagonal swastika lattice is relatively rare in this period but is seen on a small seating mat with bats in the Michael and Judy Steinhardt collection, New York, which was formerly with Thomas Cole. The same diagonal lattice appears on two kang carpets, one with Thomas Jones, Hong Kong the other formerly in the Michon collection, Paris, 1936, present owner unknown. The Michon carpet bears a striking resemblance to the present carpet with the same medallion, spandrels and border patterns, (Franses & König, op.cit., pl.3, note 70.)