Late 18th Century Chinese Ningxia Kang Carpet ( 6' x 10'3" - 175 x 415 )
Ningxia or Suiyuan, North Central China
K’ang Carpet
Structural Analysis
Warp: cotton, off-white, natural, handspun, Z-4-S;
Weft: cotton, off white, natural, winder plied, Z-3-S. handspun, two shoots alternating;
Pile: wool, Z-3 or Z-4;
Knot: PL,no alternate warp depression, 5 ½ per horizontal inch x 5 per vertical inch = 27 ½ per square inch;
Sides: recovered;
Ends: n.o.
Weft/knots: 50/50, even.
Peach border, medallion and corners corroded; sapphire blue highest.
Remarks.
The golden yellow field employs the classic “grains of rice” pattern with brown pips,
centered by a broadly drawn peach scalloped peony medallion and en-suite corners.
The matching peach tone border has inward facing peonies in one, two or three
colors with short arabesque segments between. There is no corner resolution with
diagonal palmettes. The inner medium dark blue border is pearled and the outermost
stripe is plain as is characteristic of rugs of the period.
The peony corners are bold and direct, without a plethora of intrusive minor
elements. The central peony wreath is pared down as well to the most important
motives. The contrast in scale between the rice grains, a size independent pattern and
the vastly larger scale medallion and corners is particularly striking. The rice pattern...
Category
Chinese Other Antique Early 19th Century Chinese and East Asian Rugs