EAST TURKESTAN, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

The triple medallion design of the present carpet is one of the most common in Khotan weavings. Typically arranged with three indigo-blue medallions laid upon a brick-red ground colour it is enclosed here within a polychrome Yün Tsai T'ou border. According to Bidder the origin of the design stems from Ghandara-Buddhism where the three lotus seats denote the seats for Buddha flanked by two Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist temples of Yotkan (=Khotan), Hans Bidder, Carpets from East Turkestan, Tübingen, 1964, p.53. A subsequent theory suggests that these were made for wedding ceremonies where the central roundel was used by the celebrant, with the flanking roundels designated for the marital couple. A carpet of similar field design is illustrated in Davide Halevim, Oasi. Memorie e Fascino del Turkestan Orientale, Milan, 1999, no.6.