NORTH CHINA, KANGXI PERIOD, LATE 17TH CENTURY

This carpet displays an interesting combination of designs which include both floral and geometric patterns, as well as the inclusion of a much rarer figurative motif of a deer in the central shaped medallion. The deer, which is a symbol for long life, appears on just a few carpets that have survived from the classical period, although they were more frequently depicted on small mats towards the end of the 19th century. The pictorial cartouche depicts a single deer beneath a tree, possibly laden with fruiting pomegranates.

The rhythm and finesse of the chrysanthemum leaf and scrolling vine and the softness of the colour in the present carpet are similar to those of a contemporaneous example in the Victoria & Albert Museum (Donald King, "Chinese Carpets in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The History of the Collection", HALI, vol.5, no.2, 1982, p.145). Another yellow ground runner with an overall field of ascending chrysanthemum but which lacked all of its borders, was part of the collection of Erik Risman, offered in these Rooms, 5 April 2011, lot 241 while another more complete example sold in these Rooms, 26 October 2017, lot 295.