PROBABLY YARKAND, CIRCA 1800

This beautiful silk carpet has a timeless elegance and is in remarkable condition. It is most likely to have been woven in Yarkand, one of the most important trading posts and weaving centres on the Silk Road, along with the other East Turkestan towns of Kashgar and Khotan. Located on the doorstep of Central Asia, China, India and Persia it is possible to view the influence of these varied traditions in its production. A comparable carpet is published by Jon Thompson, Silk, Carpets and the Silk Road, Tokyo, 1988, pl 34, p36, where he suggests that the present design is a fusion of Central Asian medallions and Chinese symbolism. The design can be read as a flattened version of the Chinese three-tiered universe, with the mountains on all four sides representing the four corners of the earth, while the waves that enclose the lattice convey the idea of the oceans of the world.