NORTH CHINA, QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1772)

Woven for both the imperial court and nobility, Qing dynasty rugs were often made for a specific place or function. Based on the use of the symbolic motifs and its square format, this carpet was most probably made as a dais or platform cover that typically would have been reserved for an important guest. This carpet belongs to a small group of seventeenth century Lion-dog carpets which contain a central medallion with axial points and stepped corners. According to Michael Franses, there are five known examples which contain the same medallion set upon varying ground designs. The most closely related example to our carpet, with the same flowering peony vine ground enclosing the lion-dog medallion, is housed in a private Californian collection, (M. Franses, Lion-dogs Hundred Antiques Classical Chinese Carpets I, London, 2000, p.38, fig.16).

Interestingly, Franses notes that between 1909 and 1920 about 1,650 'antique' Chinese rugs were offered for sale in various auctions in New York and most were in near perfect condition (Ibid., p. 14). Louis Comfort Tiffany, John Kimberley Mumford and Thomas B. Clarke were among the early important collectors of Chinese Classical carpets. Today, sadly only 400 carpets are attributable to the Kangxi period and most are in distressed or fragmentary condition.