woven arts of china – Antique Rug Studio

Peking Chinese Silk and Metal Thread Rug

Published on September 28, 2020 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

Stock ID: 23742

Peking Chinese Silk and Metal Thread Rug

Peking, Northeast China

4’ x 7’

Early 20^th Century

Silk pile of Asymmetric Knots with Gold Metal Thread Brocading

Inscribed: “For Palace of Harmony usage only”

Most of the silk and metal thread rugs, ostensibly, according to their inscriptions, made for the Imperial palaces in the Forbidden City, display five writhing, scaly dragons, one central and full faced, the others more in profile in the corners, all executed in knotted silk pile on flat-woven gold grounds. This one, in perfect condition, shows a meditating Buddha with an enormous flaming halo, seated in a Lotus Position, between stipple shaded rocky mounds displaying irises/ peonies. Above is an umbrella signifying royalty, and scattered about are cloud bands, cloud knots and precious objects including: a cord knot, vase, wheel and scroll (?). At the bottom of the field is a scalloped and frothy sea with curling surf and droplets of foam. The usual stylized mountain rising from the waves is absent, replaced by a wave peak. Out of the sea climbs a vine supporting the Buddha’s lotus seat. The Buddha holds some sort of fruit, perhaps a citron or pomegranate, in his left hand, with the other lowered in the position of Calling the Earth to Witness. He is crowned and wears a double jeweled collar with a pendant ornament. His chest is exposed, but otherwise he is robed. The top knot on his head (urna) is consistent with the usual Buddha iconography.

This rug looks to be taken directly from a Buddhist thangka hanging scroll. It was clearly designed as a wall-hanging, and displays none of the usual symmetries of even the most luxurious Chinese dragon silks. There are the remains of hanging loops on the upper plain-weave end band. The main red border shows tilted flowers somewhere between chrysanthemums and peonies, connected by leafy arabesques. The central border shows a T-fret pattern with simple knot corners.

The originally bright gold ground has tarnished to an attractive brownish tone. The metal thread is composed in the usual Chinese manner: with gold leaf adhered to a paper substrate and then wrapped around a silk core. Metal thread without a silk core tends to break and cannot be woven smoothly. The silk pattern stands in relief against the metal thread ground much as in Persian Souf technique rugs. The combination of silk pile and metal ground is found on antique Kashgar carpets from Xinjiang, but the use of the technique in Peking seems to be a circa 1900 innovation. The weave is medium and extremely even.

To view this rug on our website, click here.

Variation of Mandarin Nine Lion Dog Carpet

Published on April 6, 2020 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

#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 — #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.

To view this rug on our website, click here.

Peking Carpet with Adapted Silk Textile Design

Published on March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

#19307

Beijing Carpet

Northeast China

370 x 417 cm

Circa 1880’s

The field design on this top condition antique Peking (Beijing) carpet is adapted from silk brocade textiles.

The beige field displays a taupe-rust allover pattern of grape leaves and short, curled arabesque segments accented by coiled, archaic navy dragons and tiny rosettes. The dragons center lightly defines eight lobed medallions.

The central dragon and its encircling double medallion are somewhat larger than the others. The dragons are in a 17^th century Ningxia style and ultimately depend on ancient archetypes on bronzes and ceramics.

The medallions are arranged in a 2-3-2-3-2-3-2 layout. The pattern stops just at the border frame and does not pass under it.

The ivory main border alternates ecru stencil-style lotus palmettes with bi-tonal medium blue and navy vine leaves, with attached tendrils. The plain outer border is in a rusty taupe shade.

There is light carving throughout to accentuate the pattern. The foundation is all cotton, and the Tibetan wool pile is of excellent quality. The handle is relatively pliable, and the texture is thick and meaty. This carpet has no repairs and is in top condition.

To view this rug on our website, click here.

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

Published on March 16, 2020 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

#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.

The Pictorial Bao Tou

Published on February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

Born of a northern region where climate is cold and arid (conditions ideal for raising sheep), Chinese rugs were traditionally produced in an area also subject to continual conflict between Chinese and nomadic tribes to the north and west. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has been home to a variety of cultures, and the rugs created therein could be attributed to Muslim, Turkish, and Mongolian ethnic minorities while clearly retaining a strong influence from Chinese art. While there is some debate over the origin of style in this general area, each region has it’s own unique character and weave.

Baotou having been a main trade post for excellent wool and carpets from the region, was itself well known for it’s pictorial rugs. The city’s Mongolian name translates to “place with deer”, which may account for the recurring theme of this imagery. Many of these pieces are of landscapes and animals (showing mountains, deer, birds, trees, and waterways), depicting scenes from daily life or traditional stories. Other designs created are still life images (displaying vases with floral arrangements, tables, books, and scrolls), sometimes with auspicious symbols.

Earlier Baotou rugs depicted realistic imagery within the center of the rug, with geometric patterning surrounding them, and enclosed in borders. Evolving over time, the images began to occupy the entire surface of the carpet and borders were disregarded, creating a style that was more akin to paintings than that of traditional floor coverings.

While changes in composition are apparent, just as obvious is the sustained use of traditional color – in this case predominantly indigo blue. Masters of dying, some Baotou weavers used various shades of indigo as the only color within a piece – creating layers of nuance. Reds, yellows, and neutrals/browns seem to be the complimentary colors often found within the work.

To view these, and other antique Bao Tou carpets, please visit our website.

Deco is Dramatic

Published on February 13, 2020February 13, 2020 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

Looking to make a statement with your interior? Antique Chinese Art Deco rugs may be just the piece you are looking for to meet that criteria. With strong colors, and bold designs, they are an optimal choice for your modern space.

Symbols

A Chinese tradition

Symbolic imagery is used in many forms of Asian art, and the carpet has not been left out of this tradition. Symbols can be a constant source of conversation in your space.

Flowers

A bouquet of color

Many of your basic Chinese art deco carpets are adorned with colorful bursts of flowers, which pop brightly off of the solid background giving the pieces character and contrast.

Dragons

Bearer of good fortune

The dragon can be depicted in many ways within the woven arts of China, but almost always they are a symbol of positive forces – bringing with them health, wealth, happiness, and knowledge.

Birds

Meaning takes flight

There are many meanings for the use of birds within Chinese symbolism – changing with the variety of bird depicted. Peacocks represent good luck and fortune, while the Crane may express longevity and wisdom, and the duck may symbolize loyalty.

Color

Bright and bold

Some rugs are all about strength of color – an attribute which may make the boldest statement in the space you’re working with.

Whatever the statement you are trying to make with your rug – Chinese Art Deco carpets are a surefire way to emphasize drama in your decor. View our collection of antique Chinese Deco rugs to find your perfect match today!

Our Chinese deco rugs

The Shou Symbol on Antique Peking Chinese Carpets

Published on February 21, 2017February 21, 2017 by Antique Rug StudioLeave a comment

Chinese art loves symbols whether they are calligraphic, pictorial, animals or flowers, objects or natural phenomena. It is difficult to find a Chinese carpet without some symbolic elements. The “Shou” motif is one of the most popular designs that say “Chinese”. The motif literally means “long life” in its original calligraphic character form. The character has been stylized into two basic types, each with two sub types. A round, closed version is found in simplified and somewhat more complex variations. The other form is more calligraphic, open and squared, with more and less elaborate sub types. Antique Peking blue and white carpets have made liberal use of the Shou element in both field and border.

An obvious use of a bold round Shou medallion is to center the entire composition on an otherwise plain field. But it is actually quite uncommon, especial when executed in a restricted palette of two blue tones, with no white or secondary hues. The effect is elegant, striking and timeless, the perfect Chinese carpet accompaniment to Art Deco or Modern furnishings.

23269e — #23269 Chinese – Peking 9’0″ x 11’6″

A large scale rendering of either form of the open Shou character as a central medallion does not seem to occur on Antique Peking Chinese rugs.

The Shou can appear in small form as part of an overall pattern.

22843e

The main border is a frequent home for the round Shou motif, especially on small Chinese scatter rugs in the blue and white palette. A few examples employ it in both field and border, and in equal scale.

22391e — #22391 Chinese – Peking 2’3″ x 4’6″

23011e — #23011 Chinese – Peking 8’0″ x 9’6″

The small scale, open, square form is popular on blue and white antique Chinese rugs either as a border or field pattern. The Fette-Li company in Peking in the interwar period employed many unique designs based on traditional Chinese textiles, bronzes, jades and ceramics, but, surprisingly did not make extensive use of the Shou symbol. For an exception see number 22975. Fette carpets resemble no others from the 1920-30’s yet they are still recognizably Chinese without being “Chinesey” or otherwise blatantly exotic.

#21998 Chinese – Peking 2’6″ x 4’8″

#22808 Chinese – Peking 6’0″ x 8’9″

#22975 Chinese – Peking 5’3″ x3’0″

A particularly felicitous effect comes from employing both open and closed Shou types in a single rug. Again, as always, the blue and white palette again provides the best context whether on room size, scatter or the more uncommon runner format. Antique Peking Chinese Carpet no. 18567 is an extremely elegant and rigourous creation employing a restricted entirely blue colour scheme and bold border execution. The basic notion of a narrow colour scheme with an open sapphire blue field is common to our nos. 23269 and 18567. These carpets could have come from the same workshop with the same designer.

18567ee — #18567 Chinese – Peking 11’6″ x 9’0″

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23279e — #23279 Chinese – Peking 2’0″ x 2’0″

Weavings of Khotan

Published on January 27, 2011July 15, 2013 by Antique Rug Studio1 Comment

Located in the southern region of Xinjiang, the innermost of the trio of Silk Road Cities (with Kashagar and Yarkand), Khotan weaves carpets mostly in the 6’0″ x 12’0″ size.

These pieces have mostly recognizable Chinese iconography, borrow some central Asian elements (such as the gul), and are made with brighter colors and distinct wool and handle.

Later examples use synthetic dyes which have been treated to mellow the colors. Although this later period is not collectible, it is much in demand decoratively. The geometric designs and, and neutral tones, found in many Khotan rugs makes them a versatile option for modern decor.