NORTH CHINA, CIRCA 1890

The 'Lotus leaf and vine' design that extends across the field of the present carpet is a familiar pattern within Chinese art that changed little over the centuries. While it appears on painted porcelain, carved furniture and textiles, it has a long standing-tradition in carpet weaving, as can be seen on the near pair of Chinese Ming runners in the present sale (see lot 209). Although the field pattern has changed little, the arrangement of the vine in the present carpet has become more formal and an element of symmetry has arranged the vine into ascending columns. A carpet of comparable age but with a less formal field is published by E. Herrmann, Seltene Orienteppiche IX, Munich, 1987, pp.216-7, pl.100.