CHINA, LATE 18TH CENTURY

A small group of very similar carpets have been published which share the lotus field (the symbol of purity), and exactly the same colouring and border designs. Two are very close indeed to the present example, in a private Genoa collection (Eskenazi, John: Il Tappeto Orientale, Milan, 1983, no.324, p.473), and in a private German Collection (Volkmann, Martin: Alte Orientteppiche: Ausgewählte stücke aus deutscher Privatsammlungen, Munich, 1978, no.114). Two other pieces have slight amendments to the design with added central medallion (Herrmann, Eberhart: Seltene Orientteppiche V, Munich, 1983, no.93, pp.192-3) or with lion-dogs as well as a medallion (Herrmann, Eberhart: Seltene Orientteppiche IX, Munich, 1987, no.118, pp.252-3). All the captions concur on a date of the end of the eighteenth century or around 1800.