NORTH CHINA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Rugs of this format were typically woven in pairs and intended to be wrapped around the pillars of Buddhist temples so that the designs joined to form a continuous pattern. It is believed that these rugs were produced by Muslim weavers throughout the 19th century in the province of Ningxia in China, although most were destined for monasteries within Mongolia or Tibet. As with the majority of this group, the main protagonist of the present lot is the mythical tianlong; a sky dragon who is often depicted chasing a flaming pearl known as a jin (E. Gans-Ruedin, Chinese Carpets, Tokyo, 1981, p.36). Along with the decorative Buddhist pelmet and drifting clouds, holy mountains are seen emerging from stylised waves at the foot of the rugs. Two pairs in the Te-Chun Wang Collection have a comparable colour scheme (Terry Stratton ed., Antique Chinese Carpets: Masterpieces from the Te-Chun Wang Collection, England, 1978, pls.7 & 8/43 & 44, pp.44-45/90-91) and a further example sold in these Rooms, 16 April 2007, lot 187. A pair with an inverted colour scheme sold in Christie’s New York, The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth Part V, 21 March 2015, lot 1021 and a single rug also sold in the same sale, lot 21. At over seventeen feet, the last example was noted as having been reduced in length, which illustrates the height of which some of the temples reached.