Page 109 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

98 History and Science of Knots

Fig. 7. Shih-tzu Chieh (Cross Knot)

Knots as furniture ornaments
As representative pieces of mid- and late-Yang painting, such as
Wan-shan Shih-nu T'u and Kung-yueh T'u shows, knots of the
Wan-tzu pattern were attached to chairs as ornaments (Fig. 8).
In the portrait Sung Chen-tsung Chang-i Li-huang-hou Tso-
hsiang, Empress Chang-i (wife of the Sung emperor Chen-tsung,
reigned 995-1003 ) is seen sitting on a chair decorated with sev-
eral sets of pendants strung with knots (Fig. 9). During the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644) knotted pendants were gradually replaced by
tassels as furniture ornaments.