A SILK AND GILDED METALLIC THREAD CARPET

Details

A SILK AND GILDED METALLIC THREAD CARPET
19TH CENTURY

Woven in subtle colors of green, blue, brown, ochre and cream with a dense overall floral pattern, composed of a central foliate roundel borne on leafy flowering scrolls with zigzag lines forming four corner panels, framed by a thin inner band of chevron pattern within a wider floral band bordered by a plain golden brown outer band, all reserved on a finely woven ground of gilded and copper-wrapped threads, with five-character hallmark, four characters of which are legible, reading Qianqing gong yong, which can be translated as "For use in the Palace of Heavenly Purity"--84 1/2 x 50 1/2 in. (215 x 128.4cm.)

Lot Essay

According to Wan-go Weng and Yang Boda in The Palace Museum: Peking, Treasures of the Forbidden City, the Qianqingong, 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 Qianqinggong. 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