A Chinese silk carpet,

This magnificent carpet displays a classical Ninghsia design of peonies and leafy vine scrolls seen on early Ming dynasty ceramics and carpets such as the wool piled fragment in the Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt, see Franses, Michael, "Early Ninghsia Carpets," Hali, Vol. 5, No. 2, figs. 2 and 6, pg. 136. Related 14th and 15th century Ming silk and metal thread brocade designs are also known, such as the fragment sold in these rooms, December 3, 2002, lot 100. The foliate dragon design of the main border dates from the Kangxi period and displays a realistic head with a stylized body formed of vinery and leaves. The present carpet has very vibrant coloring with a golden yellow ground and saturated green, purple orange and red detailing: coloring more typical in the weavings of East Turkestan, where silk rugs with Chinese motifs were woven by Turkic Muslims in the 17th and 18th centuries. For an example of such a piece from around 1800, see Thompson, Jon, Carpets from the Tents, Cottages, and Workshops of Asia, London, 1983, pg. 128. The structure and drawing of the lot offered here suggests a 19th century Chinese attribution while the luxurious usage of silk pile indicates that it was woven for a great connoisseur or member of the aristocracy.