A LARGE KESI RECTANGULAR TABLE FRONTAL

Details

A LARGE KESI RECTANGULAR TABLE FRONTAL
17TH/18TH CENTURY

Finely woven in muted shades of green, blue, gray, brown, red and gold against a yellow ground with a continuous river garden scene depicting craggy rocks issuing from grassy mounds or pools of water by which grow peony, narcissus, bamboo, rose and chyrsanthemum, as well as clusters of lingzhi, all below layered clouds and an overhanging band composed of eleven squares, each woven with archaistic dragons confronting a shou character flanked by wan emblems, some minor wear and repair
110 x 38in. (277.4 x 96.6cm.), mounted and framed

Lot Essay

Compare the tapestry in the Victoria and Albert Museum, depicting magnolia, peach and tree peony growing from rockwork, dated to the 18th century, illustrated in Chinese Art, Roger Fry et al., B.T. Batsford, Ltd., London, 1935, pl. 59. Compare, also, the album leaves of birds and flowers, of slightly earlier date, woven in a similar style, included in the Special Exhibition of Tapestry, National Palace Museum, Taipei, April-June, 1989, Catalogue, pp. 68,69, nos. 20,30