CHINA, KANGXI PERIOD, 1662-1722 AD

This is an unusually small version of a rug which was reproduced in a wide variety of different sizes, the fields with lattices containing bats which are symbols of happiness and luck. One of the largest was sold in the Batilossi sale in these Rooms, 11 February 1998, lot 60. Another large example is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, dated by Grant Ellis very cautiously to the nineteenth century (Grant Ellis, Charles Grant: Oriental Rugs and Carpets in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1988, no.72, p.267). Other examples, of intermediate size, were sold at Sotheby's New York (5 November 1982, lot 192; Hali vol.6 no.1, auction price guide p.103) and with Johnny Eskenazi (Hali 63, June 1992, exhibition review p.145, dated to the Kangxi period: 1662-1722).