EAST TURKESTAN, CIRCA 1800

This beautifully proportioned and coloured Khotan carpet has as its design the combination of two very old motifs. The design in the field, as discussed in the footnote to lot 40, symbolises fertility and dates back 2000 years. The version seen here is more naturalistically drawn, and was certainly executed earlier in date than its variant on the silk Yarkand carpet in lot 40.

There are two viewpoints on the origin of the border design, which are not mutually exclusive. One that its lighter side comes from a single cloud design, which has been worked into a reciprocal pattern. This is suggested by Hans Bidder (Carpets from East Turkestan, Tübingen, 1964, pp.64-5). The other, also noted by Bidder looking at the darker side, that it is an adaptation of the prehistoric twin-horn motif, and represents the earthy dark "counter-cloud". This design is one that is frequently used in Turkman carpets and jewellery, also symbolising male virility, originally deriving from the horns of a ram. Its surrounding of the female fertile pomegranate tree in this rug makes the latter interpretation very probable, and shows a harmony of symbolism perfectly counterbalancing the visual harmony of its colouring and design.