Page 234 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
■*215
A KHOTAN CARPET
EAST TURKESTAN, EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Even light wear with small spots of repair, otherwise very good condition
10ft.5in. x 5ft.7in. (318cm. x 170cm.)
£8,000-12,000 US$9,300-14,000
€9,300-14,000

■*217
A KHOTAN CARPET
EAST TURKESTAN, FIRST HALF
19TH CENTURY
Light even wear, ends rewoven, overall very good
condition
11ft.4in. x 5ft.4in. (346cm. x 163cm.)
£15,000-20,000 US$18,000-23,000
€18,000-23,000
The triple medallion design of the present carpet
is one of the most common in Khotan weavings.
Typically arranged with three indigo-blue
medallions laid upon a brick-red ground colour
it is enclosed here within a polychrome Yün Tsai
T'ou border. According to Bidder the origin of
the design stems from Ghandara-Buddhism
where the three lotus seats denote the seats
for Buddha flanked by two Bodhisattvas in the
Buddhist temples of Yotkan (=Khotan), Hans
215 Bidder, Carpets from East Turkestan, Tübingen,
1964, p.53. A subsequent theory suggests that
these were made for wedding ceremonies where
■*216 the central roundel was used by the celebrant,
A KHOTAN CARPET with the flanking roundels designated for the
EAST TURKESTAN, LATE 18TH CENTURY marital couple. A carpet of similar field design
is illustrated in Davide Halevim, Oasi. Memorie e
Of 'Herat' lattice design, light corrosion and associated repiling, overall very
Fascino del Turkestan Orientale, Milan, 1999, no.6.
good condition
11ft.5in. x 6ft. (349cm. x 184cm.)
£7,000-9,000 US$8,200-11,000
€8,100-10,000
The overall 'Herat' design of linked stems forming a floral lattice can be
traced back to the 18th century workshops of Kashgar and ultimately the
floral carpets of Mughal India. Herat had maintained a huge position of
power up until the last decades of the 19th century where it had thrived
as a crossroads of commerce: from Bukhara to Kirman,and China to
Constantinople where Turkoman nomads, Uzbeks and Armenian craftsmen
had mingled. The angular arrangement of small stems with five flowers
with a triple flower tendril linked with leaf lozenges on the present carpet
is clearly a Turkestan interpretation of these earlier sources and which
appears on a silk carpet illustrated by Hans Bidder, (optimistically dated to
the late 16th/17th century, Carpets from Eastern Turkestan, Tubingen, 1964,
Ch.III, The Khotan Carpets, D, 1., pp.43-85, 3., ‘The ‘Herat’ and floral style of
‘endless rapport’, pp.74-77, pl.XVIII ). Two further comparables on madder
grounds with differing borders see Bidder, op.cit. pls. XVI & XVII. 216

232 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 233
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.