Although among the smallest products of the East Turkestan looms, Kashgar mats are often visually the most powerful. The Bernheimer Kashgar mats are not only remarkable for their beauty, but also because they have survived together as a pair. The monumentality of design seen here is created by the wide, powerful rust-red borders contrasting against the relatively more refined blue field. The design of these pieces draws a direct comparison with another Kashgar mat in the Textile Museum, Washington (see Schrmann, Ulrich: Central Asian Carpets, Frankfurt am Main, 1969, pl.77) The border design on both the Bernheimer pieces and the Textile Museum example are nearly identical realistically drawn peony blossoms linked by abstracted tendrils. The field designs, however, are different. The Textile Museum mat repeats a version of the border motifs in the field, whereas the Bernheimer pair employs a coffered rosette design that looks as if it is composed of four bats flanking a flowerhead. The Textile Museum piece also has a somewhat more subdued colouration than seen here.