EAST TURKESTAN, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

The pomegranate has a long history as a decorative motif in Central Asia: it appears on 4th century woodcarvings described by the archaeologist and traveller Sir Auriel Stein, as well as in ancient Near Eastern cultures like Sumeria. According to Hans Bidder, its tenacity as a decorative motif may be a result of the ease with which this fruit, with its ample content of seeds, may be associated with fertility, (Hans Bidder, Carpets from Eastern Turkestan, Tübingen, 1979, pp.49-53).

Silk Yarkand carpets appear amongst the inventories of significant collectors, including that of James F. Ballard who gifted his to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1922 (acc.no. 22.100.28). An example which was formerly part of the Doris Duke Foundation was sold at Christie's New York, 3 June 2008, lot 32; the Bernheimer family sold theirs in these Rooms, 14 February 1996, lot 178, and Davide Halevim sold two further examples, 14 February 2001, lot 40 and 41. A rare yellow-ground Yarkand in wool, with a double 'vase' design, formerly part of the collection of Hans König, sold Christie's London, 25 October, 2018, lot 292.