約1800年 寧夏萬壽錦紋地毯

the light coloured main field with overall repeat pattern of octagonal motifs enclosing stylised floral motifs, centred with a shaped cartouche enclosing a medallion with a stylised variation of a shou character roundel, with recurring line spandrels and running line inner border and swastika outer border

Generally very good condition, with good pile overall. Browns oxidised as typical with these pieces, with spot foundation visible, for example on corners. Some repiling to browns. Additional images are available on request from the department.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the diary of a Jesuit priest, Father Gerbillon, it is recorded that the Kangxi Emperor visited Ningxia in 1697, and was presented with several locally made carpets which he took back with him to the Empress. With Imperial interest in the Ningxia carpets and their designs being closely related to court styles of the Ming period, their appeal continued throughout the 18th century. Ancestor portraits of the 18th century are significant in contributing dates to styles of carpets. In these portraits the carpets geometric T- design and ‘swastika’ (wan) borders, and corner spandrels are often visible at the edges of the thrones in the pictures, see for example an Ancestor portrait of a military officer of the first rank and his wife, in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (inv. no. 921.1.154). For an interesting depiction of a textile cloak around the shoulders of male ancestor, which has a repeat design of octagonal motifs and a scrolling border, see and Ancestor portrait, ink and colour on silk hanging scroll, Qing Dynasty, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada (inv. no. 920.20249). This is reminiscent of the carpets that have overall repeat designs, and reveals the influence of the woven silk textiles, both above cited portraits are illustrated and the early carpets comprehensively discussed in Michael Franses, ‘Early Ningxia Carpets in the Victoria and Albert Museum’, Hali, vol. 5. no. 2. 1982, pp. 132-140, figs 1 and 4.

The early Chinese rugs production of wool pile carpets and rugs spanned over a century and they do not appear to have been exported to Europe in the first quarter of the eighteenth century which was the height of the Chinoiserie fashion. It was not until the Boxer rebellion that Chinese carpets appeared in any significant numbers outside China. It was at the beginning of the twentieth century that the West became aware of Chinese carpets, largely through the dealers at the time which included Larkin and Kemp in London, and Yamanaka, Tiffany, Dilley and others in New York. Between 1909 and 1920 about 1,650 ‘antique’ Chinese rugs were sold at auction in New York, and by 1930 the enthusiasm had waned. Their interest to the present market is the understated elegance and balanced composition of the early Chinese carpets, with their reduced and subtle range of colours.

For comprehensive discussion and technical analysis of Chinese carpets, and comparable examples with geometric designs with central medallions and shaped spandrels, seventeenth century, see Hans König and Michael Franses, exhibition catalogue, Glanz der Himmelssöhne: Kaiserliche Teppiche aus China 1400-1750 [Splendours of Sons of Heaven: Classical Chinese Carpets 1400-1750], Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, 2005-2006, London, 2005, cat. nos 42-43, pp. 126-129, 203. This was the first exhibition of Chinese carpets in Europe since the opening of the Musée Cernuschi, Paris, in 1911. For a Ningxia rug, first half eighteenth century (211 by 124 cm), with vertical composition of eight shaped cartouches (probably trays) with various objects, not dissimilar to those depicted on the present carpet, see Moshe Tabibnia and Tiziana Marchesi, ed., Intrecci Cinesi, Antica Arte tessile XV-XIX secolo, Moshe Tabibnia Gallery, Milan, 2011, cat. no. 25, pp. 152-153, and technical analysis p. 257.

For an interesting comparable design of carpet, see the catalogue of a selling Exhibition, 16th-19th Century, Oriental Carpets & Rugs, Jekyll’s Ltd, 74 South Audley Street, 12th June to 31st August 1928, exhibit no. 154, catalogued as a Chinese ‘Primitive’ Carpet (12ft by 6ft. 5in), Ming, middle 12th century (Price £285), illustrated front cover. It has a similar ‘archaic’ design and the same border types, the main field with additional canted geometric angles creating the corners of a square around the central medallion, and further motifs of flaming pearls and stylised ‘leaf’ dragons (dragon-snake). The considered probably earliest design model for a similar, square format, of the leaf dragon design is noted against an example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dated to the Kangxi period (1662-1722), and not twelfth century, see M.S Dimand, and Jean Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with a catalogue of Rugs of China and Chinese Turkestan, New York, 1973, fig. 299. Another example, of this design with similar border type to the present carpet, and the use of pink, uses the traditional design and colour palette, but is dated to the second half of the nineteenth century (due to large size, weight and dense and high pile), and possibly a replacement for an earlier carpet used in the imperial district, see Spuhler, Friedrich, The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: Carpets and Textiles, London, 1988, Chinese Carpets, no. 64, pp. 232-235. Evidence that the appealing traditional design was interpreted over time.

For comparable geometric designed pieces at auction see: a Ningxia carpet, early eighteenth century (310 by 203 cm), in our New York rooms, 12th December 1997, lot 97, from the estate of Jennella Tyler Evans; a Ningxia carpet, eighteenth century (406 by 361 cm), in our New York rooms, 22nd September 1993, lot 218, from the collection of P.K. Kalaydjian; a Ningxia carpet, eighteenth century (275 by 148 cm), in our London rooms, 12th April 1989, lot 397; and a Ningxia carpet, late eighteenth century (411 by 360 cm), in our New York rooms, 30th May 1987, lot 113, from the estate of Scofield Thayer.

Michael Franses and Robert Pinner, ‘The Chinese Carpet Collection – in the Victoria and Albert Museum’, Hali, vol. 5. no. 2. 1982, pp. 141-148, fig. 6, illustrates an example of a Chinese carpet, (256 by 178 cm), post 1800 (inv. no. T.100-1909), which depicts a combination of the medallion motifs, a variation of corner spandrel design, the double T-border and swastika border, along with some of the objects which appear in the ‘meditation’ (hundred antiques design) carpets, an example of each separate design type being offered in this sale (see also lot 3648).