Page 47 - 2021 March 18 to 19th, Important Chinese Works of Art, Christie's New York City

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE NEW YORK
COLLECTION
744
A LARGE NINGXIA 'DRAGON' CARPET
NORTH CHINA, KANGXI PERIOD (1662-
1722)
The carpet is decorated with a medallion of
four conjoined archaistic dragons amidst dense
leafy peony scroll with four further dragons in
the corners, all on a pale beige ground, enclosed
by borders of lotus scroll and key fret and a solid
brown outer border.
124 in. (314.9 cm.) x 85 in. (215.6 cm.)

$25,000-35,000
清康熙 寧夏龍紋毯

The reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722)
was a period of great achievement for all the
arts, and carpets woven during this period are
celebrated for their harmony and proportion
both in coloration and size. Woven for both the
Imperial court and nobility, Qing dynasty rugs
and carpets were often made for a specific
place or function. Based on its proportions,
the present carpet was most likely made as a
daybed cover that would have been typically
reserved for an important guest.

The field design of symmetrical peony blossoms
in offset rows with trailing leafy vinery is based
on Chinese textile patterns. Used either as a
solid overall pattern or as a background for a
medallion and spandrels, slight variations are
found in the coloration and shape of the peony
blossom as well as the treatment of the vinery.
A carpet with similar treatment of the vinery
and solid indigo blossoms was sold at Christie’s
London, 8 October 2006, lot 231. The “Deroyan
Peony and Leaf Dais Cover” carries a similar
field design (see M. Franses, Classical Chinese
Carpets in Western Collections, London, 2002,
pl. 9), however, the main blossom in the Deroyan
carpet is two-toned with a light camel center.

The most striking feature of this carpet is
the geometric form of dragons in the central
medallion and in each corner or spandrel. A
motif taken from archaic bronzes, the dragon
heads emerge from geometric snake-like
bodies. The archaistic dragon medallion and
spandrels can be found in its more simplified
form in a Chinese mat dated to the 17th century
(H. A. Lorentz, A View of Chinese Rugs from the
seventeenth to the twentieth century, London,
1972, p. 109, pl. 24). The treatment of the
dragon-fret motif in the medallion and corners
in this carpet closely resembles that of a carpet
illustrated in The Tiffany Studios book Antique
Chinese Rugs, 1908, pl. XXXII. The Tiffany
carpet also shares a similar peony and trellis
background, however, the central dragon-fret
medallion is two-headed, while our example is
a more complicated four-headed design. The
dragon heads in the corners are nearly identical
although the fret-work is slightly different with
the Tiffany carpet having extra “hooks” at the
bottom.