19TH CENTURY

The Qianqing Gong, or 'Palace of Heavenly Purity', the first of the Three Rear Halls, formerly contained the sleeping chambers of Ming emperors. During the Qing dynasty, however, emperors began to manage state affairs from the Qianqing Gong. The Palace was eventually turned into a formal living room and offices, where emperors summoned subordinates for consultation, received foreign envoys, as well as gave banquets for family members, relatives and high officials (see Wan-go Weng and Yang Boda, The Palace Museum: Peking, Treasures of the Forbidden City, 1982, p. 50). It is uncertain whether or not this carpet was ever used in the Palace, but if it were, carpets inevitably would have been replaced at regular intervals. A similar carpet sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 May 2010, lot 1930.