Mid 19th Century Central Asian NingXia Carpet

24013

Ningxia North Central China

17’10”  x 17’10”

C. 1850

Warp: cotton, off white, handspun, Z-4-S

Weft: cotton, off white, handspun, 2 shoots alternating

Pile: wool, 3 strand, handspun

Knot: asymmetric, open left, 48 knots per square inch

Sides: one cord, offwhite cotton wrapped

End: no original finish

This is a particularly large example of a Mandarin official’s carpet with a central medallion displaying nine lion dogs collectively symbolic of success on the national Chin Shih examination which provided guaranteed entry into the national administrative bureaucracy and the wealth devolving therefrom.  The nine lion dogs are a rebus for success in the national bureaucracy. The apricot ground features 11 full or partial rows of tree peonies, flower and stem. This carpet is particularly large and clearly was made for a highly placed official or the wealthy family of a recent graduate of whom great things were expected. The principal was probably Buddhist as indicated by the embroidered ball and precious objects in the medallion. The clouds surrounding the lion dogs form a broken, polychrome circle rather than the usual continuous cloud wreath. This is one of the several features indicating a bespoke order rather than a piece made for the market.

Another indicator is the exceptional size, as the standard square Ningxia Mandarin carpet is about 12 to 14 feet square. The main border continues the color combination, with a now apricot ground and peonies among floral arabesques. The blue inner stripe is unusual with butterflies alternating with paired peaches of longevity. Surrounding the whole is a wide, dark blue plain band. The drawing is balanced in all directions, with nothing cut off or left incomplete.

The medallion has three peony rows below and four above, but it seems well centered.  To have added another row at the bottom would have been technically more correct, but it would have made the carpet less than square, and squareness was an essential requirement. The notion that these square carpets were made for conforming dais platforms can be dismissed on an even cursory look at traditional Chinese houses. There are no daises. The only dais platforms are in the Forbidden City Imperial throne rooms and this is not an Imperial rug.

The condition is extraordinary. Such carpets were woven for the largest room of the house, the ancestor hall, and brought out only on important occasions like funerals, weddings, visits or holidays. Otherwise, they were rolled up and stored away. The handle is particularly thick and solid, and indicates a turn away from the softer and looser characteristic earlier Ningxia weave. Very few large Ningxia carpets are known and even fewer are in this exceptional state of perfect preservation.

The peony is a traditional Chinese carpet design, but it is usually combined with butterflies, bats, fretwork or other elements. The close and allover display of peonies is very unusual. The flower heads reverse direction at the approximate horizontal middle of the carpet. The carpet was originally more of a lacquer red as indicated by the verso. The logwood dye has, as is usual for Chinese carpets, changed to a mellow apricot. 

As is standard, Ningxia carpets are not dated or inscribed, and it would be impossible to ascertain the original patron of the piece.  In any case, his dwelling would have been most substantial with an ancestor hall twenty or more feet in width. The intended owner would have been highly placed in any case.

The exact workshop practices of the dozen or so workshops active at the time are not known, but the weavers, Hui Muslims, worked on vertical looms. Whether they employed partial cartoons for this exceptional piece is unknown, but it surely was well supervised. The central medallion probably had some sort of graphic guide, however.

Written by Dr Peter Saunders.
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North China Main Hall Carpet

#20993

Main Hall Carpet

Probably Suiyuan, North China

Early Nineteenth Century

8’5” x 11’10”

Structural Analysis:

Warp: cotton, off white, natural, Z-4-S;

Weft: cotton, off white, natural, Z-6-S, Z-7-S, loosely plied,2 shoots alternating, equally slack-wavy;

Pile: wool, Z-2, thin yarn, granular surface texture;

Knot: Pl/0 degrees alternate warp depression/horizontal 5 per inch x 5 per vertical inch = 25 per square inch;

Sides: 2 cords each of two body warps, weft attached; closely weft covered in figure eight style;

Ends: not original;

Weft/knot ratio:50/50, a few weft wedges in outer border along edges.

Remarks:

The oatmeal field has an overall pattern of bats, knots and shou discs and is clearly adapted from a silk brocade textile pattern. The textile patterning continues in the main border where a swastika fret on a terracotta ground displays cartouches with a non-repeating series of silk brocade sections. There is a T-fret inner border with neatly turned corners and a pearled innermost stripe.

There are a few comparanda to 20993 to be noticed.  One appeared in the Yamanaka Sale, American Art Association, NY, 7-8.1. l909, lot 142, 4.11 x 8.8 with an old ivory field one way patterned with bats and peaches.  The inner border was also pearled while the main displayed cartouches with Taoist symbolic objects alternating with reserves enclosing knots (bought by Topalyan for $370) interestingly, #20993 is also ex-Yamanaka, sold at his sale, AAA,4-7. l2. 1929, lot 769 (for $275). The size given there is 8.1 x 11.9, probably a slight mis-measurement of the width as the picture is identical with 20933.

There are several cogent reasons to doubt a Ningxia origin. The Z-6,7-S wefts with relatively fine individual strands differ from the more usual Ningxia Z-4 (or occasionally Z-2 or 3) yarns with thick and irregular component strands.  The selvage, though Ningxia in general setup, is far more completely covered than the usual sparse, quick Ningxia edges. The pile wool has a particularly granular and almost coarse texture with thicker individual fibers. The pile of Ningxia carpets is generally silkier and softer. The knots are more discrete.  The general surface impression is visually and tactually distinct from the overwhelming run of Ningxia pieces.  The field tone is not Ningxia off white, but a shade closer to pale tan, it was never yellow.  The 1929 catalogue also calls it “tan”.  The madder derived terracotta in the border is not usually found in Ningxia pieces.  In general, then the facture significantly diverges from that expected in Ningxia rugs.

It has been asserted [fn. Hongqui] that students/workers from Matuo Akhun’s shop in Ningxia migrated to, among other places, Suiyuan in the early 18^th century to establish their own carpet ateliers.  They would have taken learned shop practices with them, modifying them to fit differing materials and clienteles.  The hand never lies: the actual production methods would be carried over while the more superficial pattern aspects might vary more.  

The verso on a quick look appears Ningxia, but a closer perusal reveals variations that sow doubts in the mind of the observer.  Suiyuan might be a viable attribution.  Although Suiyuan is best known for “grains of rice” patterned pieces in 4’ by 6’ or 5’ by 8’ sizes, there is no reason that a commissioned special order piece could not have been larger.  A close comparison to other rugs usually assigned to Suiyuan would be useful here.

The carpet was acquired by the present owners and had sustained severe moth damage in the borders.  It has been sympathetically restored and now can be definitively compared with the 1929 catalogue illustration, whereby the identity of the two pieces is established. Provenance: ex-collection Yamamnaka; sold at his sale, AAA Galleries, NY, 4-7.l2. l929, lot 769, for $275.

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Variation of Mandarin Nine Lion Dog Carpet

#20853

Main Hall Carpet

11’9” x 12’

Mid 18^th  Century

Structural Analysis:

Warp:cotton,off-white,natural,Z-4-S,somewhat irregular;

Weft:cotton,off-white,Z-4-S,winder plied, quite irregular;2 shots alternating; wefts thick and soft;

Pile:wool,Z-4;

Knot: PL/0 degrees warp depression/horiz. 6 x vertical 5 = 30 knots per square inch; knots somewhat irregular, some quite thin; [check for T knots along edges]

Sides: two cords each of two body warps, inner directly weft-attached; figure eight sparsely weft yarn wrapped;

Weft/knot ratio: 60/40 wefts predominant.

Remarks:

This is another variant on the popular Mandarin nine lion dog carpet.  The polychrome cloud wreath has exuberant, almost Baroque volutes at the four cardinal points.  The intermediary wreath sections were in field tones and have faded, making the composition rather hard to discern: the wreath would have been more salient before the changes to the long, curved, intermediate sections.

The dominant, dark blue lion dog appears at the top of the medallion and has a wide, particularly expressive face, complete with character creases and a canine snout.  The dog has real personality and individuality, unlike most of the animals in similar carpets. The main dog is alert and lively, with curved and slightly droopy ears.  All the dogs have light colored forepaws and small over pelts.  The creatures are well spaced and not crowded in the medallion.  The protected (protégé) dog is particularly small.  The main dog seems to have no parallels among published carpets and were any to appear, an attribution to the same workshop should be considered.

#18830 NingXia 15’0″ x 15’3″ circa 1770

The corners of the field employ double peony arabesques forming simplified “heart” points at the right angles.  The development here is much more schematic than l8830 and need not indicate the same workshop of origin.  Sprays of tree peonies, butterflies, leafy twigs, fractional tendrils and grassy clusters are spotted throughout the now buff field.

The dark blue peony main border is notable for the rare diagonal corner palmettes from which emanate foliate sprays in both directions in order to make a perfectly symmetric turn.  A bold T-fret inner border in salmon and dark blue has neat T’s in three corners and a single hook in one.  This is a certain indicator, if one is still needed, that no scale paper cartoons were available to the weavers.  Specifically, there was no formal illustration of how to make a fret border turn a corner.

#18355 NingXia 13’6″ x 13’10” circa 1750

As with our other examples, this nine dog main hall carpet was probably woven to the order of a successful Mandarin administrator.  Each of our large lion dog carpets seem to originate in a different shop, although 20853 and l8355 may be more clearly related than the others.  The extreme technical uniformity across the entire local industry deprives us of any unique idiosyncrasies and hence pattern is the sole evidence for differentiation.  One must also keep in mind that the same shop evolved over time, producing different carpets for different clients, changing the design pool when useful and implying a rotating work staff.

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Remarks on 2 Ningxia Daybed Covers or Small K’ang Format Rugs

#19168

Daybed Cover or Small K’ang Format Rug

Ningxia, North Central China

4’8” x 7’6”

Circa 1800

Structural Analysis:

Warp: cotton, off white, natural, Z-4-S, tightly plied;

Weft: cotton, off white, natural, Z-3,4-S, winder plied; two shoots alternating; some sections of weft passages fat and irregular;

Pile: wool, Z-3, Z-4;

Knot: PL/no alternate warp depression/6 per horizontal inch x 5 ½   per vertical inch = 33 per square inch [check for T knots along edges]

Weft/knots: 60/40.

Remarks:

The most interesting aspect of this Ningxia rug is the underlying allover pattern on the salmon buff (originally red) ground. Five scalloped medallions in a 2-1-2 layout are composed of peonies and sprays enclosing central fret elements. The larger, central motif on a yellow ground has peonies and sprays matching those of the lemon-yellow main border. Here the central device centers on a rosette. The subsidiary medallions are more overtly cruciform.

All these medallions are simply overlaid on a field of irregularly colored, but evenly positioned rosette dots. The continuous overall pattern passes beneath the medallions and borders. They do not interact with or attach to the textile spot pattern. These dots are a pile rendition of the effect produced by tie-dyeing nodes of fabric: The Chinese pu-lo technique. Although this attractive effect easily lends itself to rugs, actual surviving antique pieces seem to be quite rare and we have not been able to locate another early example in literature.

All four main border sections are symmetric out from their respective centers. The side borders have a “M” as midpoint while the end stripes employ peonies instead. The corners of the main border are formed from floriated sprays, the end ones compressed, and the side ones stretched. The salmon “T” fret inner border has more problems at the corners: there are three distinct attempts at resolution and only one at the top right and bottom left is successful.

In general, 19168 looks older than 20978 (seen below) and has a wholly distinct verso.

To view rug 19168 on our website, click here.

#20978

Daybed or Small Kang Formal Rug

Ningxia, North Central China

4’ 10”x 6’9”

circa 1800

Structural Analysis:

Warp:cotton,white,natural,Z-4-S,tightly twisted;

Weft: cotton, grey-white, mostly Z-4-S,some Z-2,3-S,winder plied, very soft and thick; two shoots alternating, straight to slack; some wefts more compacted than others;

Pile:wool,Z-3 or 4;

Knot: PL/no warp depression/horiz.5 x vertical 5 = 25 knots per square inch
[check for Knots along edges]

Sides: 1 cord of two body warps, closely weft covered;

Ends: n.o;

Weft/knot ratio:50/50 to slight knot predominance.

Remarks:

Irregular verso, large knots.

Ningxia rugs are not usually dark blue. This charming small rug has a broad circular lotus (or peony?) wreath encircling a central pair of lion dogs, the smaller clinging to the back of the larger. The lion dog of 20978 is distinctly roll-poly and friendly, not fierce or even barking. The lotus wreath is itself a collage, featuring lotus palmettes, intermediate peony leaf sprays and tiny fretwork sections.

The medallion is bracketed at each end by five tree peonies graded in size and framed by fret corners, each with two dragon heads. The overall effect is not far from the slightly larger Moore-Mumford no.285 daybed example, also with a dark blue ground. Here there are five peonies at each end of the field and a simple, singe larger polychrome cloud wreath around two distinct lion dogs.

The border of no.285 is a classic peony or lotus “S” pattern, whereas in 20978 there are thick dark blue leaves and diagonal small flowers in the scrollwork.  The field peonies of the two rugs are similarly stylized and geometric. The leaves and stems of 20978 are, however, more naturalistic than the correspondents of no.285.  In particular, the two-tone leaves of the latter are stiffer and less convincing than those of 20978.

The Moore-Mumford dog was rather optimistically dated to the late Kang-Hsi period, perhaps on the basis of the brocade pattern inner border, but given what is now known of the c.1700 design revolution in Ningxia, a date not far from 1800, or at least in the last quarter of the l8th century is much more possible.

To view rug 20978 on our website, click here.