A Ninghsia carpet, West China,

The background pattern of the lot offered here has a diagonal swastika-fret pattern more often found on carpets woven a century earlier. The colors used are typical of carpets from the later part of the 18th century. In earlier carpets the swastika-fret border, a symbol of good luck, is drawn seen from above only; here it is drawn with a three-dimensional effect – this style starts to appear on carpets depicted in Chinese ancestor portrait paintings of around this period. The same feature can be seen on a Chinese carpet of the same age in the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. Lion Dogs, or bai, were short-legged, short-headed dogs, precursors of the Pekinese breed and were held in great esteem. The Buddhist lion is a protector of sacred buildings: the stone lions in front of buildings are there as demon-scarers and often have a half-dog, half-lion appearance. Lion Dogs can be found on numerous Chinese carpets, including one in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection (see Franses, Michael and Rupert Waterhouse, Classical Chinese Carpets I, London, 2000, pp.48-9, plate 15), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The coins scattered across the field are typical of the late 18th century, as are patterns on the two inner borders.