Jeff Sun

Thanks Franscesca for posting this interesting analysis of dyes.

I must say though, that I find the rug designs, particularly the spiral vine design of Catalog Carpet #2 to be most interesting. Both the vine design and the greek key border (as well as the general shape) all resemble designs common on a Tibetan Khaden. However, one very rarely sees these in more recent Chinese rugs.

Perhaps this rug was made for a Kang (heated sleeping platform) and therefore, like a Khaden it's main purpose was to be slept upon, thus explaining the shape, and perhaps the design, being imitative of Tibetan carpets used for this purpose (which in turn often imitated designs on Chinese brocades).

Any thoughts in this regard?

Francesca Fiorentino

Hi Jeff

You didn't choose bad, because carpet in catalog number 2 was holded in Mona Bismark collection and after in the Wher collection. Now in MATAM Museum, Milan. As Hans Konig explains in the catalog, it belongs to a number of very important Palace carpets, recently identified, woven for the Imperial Palace in Peking. Usually they had really impressive measures as 9x11 metres, the biggest known is 398,5 square metres! They adorned the Imperial halls to embellish and cover many furnitures/pillars/walls/thrones so that we can have many shapes. From the XVIII they were more and more used by noble and rich people. Some of them are in western Museums or collection, but the most are still in China.
They have some common features: a rough weave, sometimes silk structure, wool pile, decorative patterns bigger than those in Ningxia items and typical designs.
All the preparation steps were organized in a specific laboratory in Peking, and, if weared, a perfect copy was ordered.
Regarding the motifs (here lotus flowers with irregular vines and forked leaves) it results the opposite influence: from China to Tibet.
In many Chinese artistic media well before Tibet became a unified empire(VIIth cent) are found flowers, vegetal and animal forms which became more and more codified from T'ang and Song Dinasty. The Mings (1368-1644) had a further influence on later decorative Chinese forms, but always in the tradition path. Besides China was having for many periods a power control on Tibet by resident Governors. Tom Cole has written some very interesting assays on the real "Tibetan" etnic nature and relative decorative/symbolic forms before the arrival of Buddhism (VIIth cent,), of Chinese, Mongol, Yuan and Uighur Turks.
In the catalog there is a specific image of a porcelain bowl from Yongle reign (1403-1424) with the same floral pattern, round flowers binded by spiral vines and forked leaves (blu and white).
During Ming and Mantchu reigns some motifs were reserved to the Imperial family and his court and were strictly codified in the Palace laboratories. These builded up the Imperial style, which this carpet from Wanli reign (1573-1620) shows. In particular the pattern is every time changing with a final very elegant effect of movement.
The lotus flower in many variations is often used in the imperial style and is symbol of purity.
In this carpet too sappan wood dyes have been identified, and this let us imagine how different was its final feature with a reddish field.

Regarding kang and khaden, they were spreadly used in far east, from the Tarim Basin to China. I never heard this tradition came first from Tibet. Anyway many of the extant Palace and Ningxia carpets measure 2x4 metres (like this one) and were made to cover the traditional kang, as you said, in the aristocrats houses (H. Konig, in Catalog, pag. 30).

Jeff Sun

Thanks Francesca!

Care to speculate on why this design is seldom seen in later Chinese rugs? Kangs, of course, are still used in many parts of China, and the lotus is just as popular as ever....

Francesca Fiorentino

Jeff,

I am not so expert at Chinese carpets, but can imagine that, when in 1911 the Emperor and the Empire vanished, there was no more need to weave Palace carpets for the royal family and for the aristocrats class. All the traditional customers were vanishing. Furthermore from the end of the XIXth c. Americans mostly and othe western investors arrive to invest and product for western countries with different tastes and different needs. Nichols carpets are a good examples, as all the beautiful "American" Chinese carpets. We know What happes to Pu-Yi, the same to the carpet weaving: the tradition was over and Mao Zedong was a bit later very careful to destroy any possible memory of the Past. I suppose that all the symbols of the Emperor power and rule were officialy prohibited, even if they can survive thanking to their ancient roots.
About kangs and Chinese house furnitures changes I have not any informations: may they could have been replaced with Aubusson like Tientsin carpets?

Best regards, Francesca

Francesca Fiorentino

Surely they could better survive in the high mountains of Tibet.