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Lot Essay
This fragment, formerly in the Michaelian collection, was once part of a larger kang carpet. The bi-coloured, jagged leaves and lotus flowers in profile, are arranged in staggered rows upon on a pale pink-ivory ground. The lotus flowers which stand dominant on the ground are accentuated by a thin light blue or tan outline. A small mat which displays the same treatment of the lotus flowers and leaves, formerly in the Ronnie Newman collection, retains some of the fugitive red colour of early Chinese rugs (The Ronnie Newman Collection, Skinner, Boston, 21 October 2018, lot 151).
For a closely related 17th century Ningxia fragment, with lotus, peonies, chrysanthemums and butterflies, formerly with Michael Strazalkowski, Maine, now in a private collection, see Franses and König, op.cit. p.87, pl.18. That fragment shows the development of the design, displaying a looser drawing of elongated leaves where the butterflies are depicted more freely in flight and the scrolling vine travels diagonally across the field rather than in a more defined, linear arrangement as seen on later 18th century examples.
For a closely related 17th century Ningxia fragment, with lotus, peonies, chrysanthemums and butterflies, formerly with Michael Strazalkowski, Maine, now in a private collection, see Franses and König, op.cit. p.87, pl.18. That fragment shows the development of the design, displaying a looser drawing of elongated leaves where the butterflies are depicted more freely in flight and the scrolling vine travels diagonally across the field rather than in a more defined, linear arrangement as seen on later 18th century examples.