EAST TURKESTAN, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY

细节

A KHOTAN CARPET
East Turkestan, second half 18th century
The shaded rust-red field with scattered minor motifs around three medium blue panels containing stylised flowerheads, similar panels in each corner, in a bold reciprocal skittle-pattern border between angular floral meander, key-pattern and angular vine stripes, plain outer stripe, ends restored, scattered repiling, localised wear
12ft.10in. x 6ft.7in. (392cm. x 201cm.)

注意事项

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.

拍品专文

While obviously similar to the preceding lot, the present carpet has an unusual feature in the quartered medallions forming spandrels in the field. The design is however dominated by the well drawn version of one of the most sought-after and archaic of all Khotan border designs. There are two theories about the origin of this design. One has it that it comes from the Chinese single cloud design which has been worked into a reciprocal pattern (Bidder, Hans: Carpets from East Turkestan, Tübingen, 1964, pp.64-5). An alternative is that it is an adaptation of the prehistoric twin-horn motif, and represents the earthy dark counter-cloud. This (kotchak) design is one that is frequently used in Turkman carpets and jewellery, also symbolising male virility, originally deriving from the horns of a ram. The reciprocal nature of the design means that these are not necessarily mutually exclusive; each one can represent each half of the form.