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Lot Essay
This intricate carpet design of entwined lotus flowers, carnation and chrysanthemum with leaf stems would have been highly suitable for the 'Palace of Tranquil Longevity' within the Forbidden City for which it was woven. Each of these flowers is considered greatly symbolic within Chinese tradition, representing good fortune, prosperity and longevity. The perfectly round lunar, central medallion with its delicate scalloped edge, echoed in each of the four corner spandrels, enhances further the sense of balance and harmony within its overall design.
The Palace of Tranquil Longevity is located in the north east corner of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City complex. Construction of the palace began on the Qianlong Emperor's orders in 1771, in preparation for his retirement, although the emperor himself never moved into the palace. Its beautiful apartments, pavilions, gates and gardens feature some of the most elegant spaces at a time widely considered to be the pinnacle of Chinese interior design.
According to their inscriptions, the so-called 'Palace' carpets were woven for various palaces and imperial buildings in and around the dynastic capital of the Qing emperors and were woven in varying proportions, designs and indeed quality. It remains unclear as to where these carpets were physically produced but it is likely they were woven in a number of weaving centers, including Beijing itself, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. For a fuller discussion on the group, see Daniel Shaffer, 'Qing silks for the Forbidden City', HALI, Issue 174, 2017, pp.128-131.
A silk carpet bearing the same palace inscription, of comparable proportions and an extremely similar design, apart from the addition of writhing dragons within the roundel and spandrels, was gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, by William M. Emery, (M.S.Dimand and J.M Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, pp.322-3, cat. 224.) A comparable example to that carpet, but woven for the Ning Shou Palace and slightly smaller in size than the present lot, was sold at Brunk Auctions, North Carolina, 8 January 2011, for a record price at the time for a carpet of this type, while another similar carpet of 'Dragon' design, woven for the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony, was sold from the Estate of Rosa Strygler, Christie's New York, 16 October 2019, lot 757.
For many years this carpet had been part of the estate of the great Swedish inventor and photographer, Victor Hasselblad (1906-1978). During Victor’s life, he introduced some of the most iconic cameras in history which were used by the Swedish Air Force, as well as being used to document and capture for the first time, many migratory birds. The Hasselblad formula has been copied and emulated by many, but never equaled and its cameras, used by many professional photographers, became synonymous with the utmost in camera reliability and image quality.
The Palace of Tranquil Longevity is located in the north east corner of the Inner Court of the Forbidden City complex. Construction of the palace began on the Qianlong Emperor's orders in 1771, in preparation for his retirement, although the emperor himself never moved into the palace. Its beautiful apartments, pavilions, gates and gardens feature some of the most elegant spaces at a time widely considered to be the pinnacle of Chinese interior design.
According to their inscriptions, the so-called 'Palace' carpets were woven for various palaces and imperial buildings in and around the dynastic capital of the Qing emperors and were woven in varying proportions, designs and indeed quality. It remains unclear as to where these carpets were physically produced but it is likely they were woven in a number of weaving centers, including Beijing itself, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. For a fuller discussion on the group, see Daniel Shaffer, 'Qing silks for the Forbidden City', HALI, Issue 174, 2017, pp.128-131.
A silk carpet bearing the same palace inscription, of comparable proportions and an extremely similar design, apart from the addition of writhing dragons within the roundel and spandrels, was gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, by William M. Emery, (M.S.Dimand and J.M Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, pp.322-3, cat. 224.) A comparable example to that carpet, but woven for the Ning Shou Palace and slightly smaller in size than the present lot, was sold at Brunk Auctions, North Carolina, 8 January 2011, for a record price at the time for a carpet of this type, while another similar carpet of 'Dragon' design, woven for the Great Hall of Supreme Harmony, was sold from the Estate of Rosa Strygler, Christie's New York, 16 October 2019, lot 757.
For many years this carpet had been part of the estate of the great Swedish inventor and photographer, Victor Hasselblad (1906-1978). During Victor’s life, he introduced some of the most iconic cameras in history which were used by the Swedish Air Force, as well as being used to document and capture for the first time, many migratory birds. The Hasselblad formula has been copied and emulated by many, but never equaled and its cameras, used by many professional photographers, became synonymous with the utmost in camera reliability and image quality.