Early Chinese Carpet with Stylized Lotus Flowers and Leaf Stems

A rare and beautiful early Chinese carpet characterized by an infinite repeat of parallel and offset rows of blue and ivory lotus blossoms, symbols of purity, on a two-tone yellow ba...

A very unusual long and narrow pillar rug, decorated by large lotus flowers with tracery in a manner reminiscent of Ming period weavings. It is very finely ...

A very fine and rare antique throne back cover from Yarkand, in eastern Turkestan, hand knotted entirely in pure silk. A true gem of a weaving, with that perfect balance of colour an...

Distinguished by a large central element obtained from a stylization of the 'Shou' Chinese ideogram, symbolizing infinity, this glorious carpet is further characterized by a soft tau...

Only a very limited group of the carpets woven during the thirties at the Tianjin city looms are decorated by geometric patterns typical of the Art Deco period. Some of these rare pi...

The only huge carpet known to have left the Imperial Palace in Beijing's Forbidden City, formerly in the Perenchio collection, is the famous Tiffany carpet, 9.99 metres long and once 9.68 metres wide, but since reduced to 7.20 metres wide. The carpet was originally made in three parts to fit around the columns of an unknown hall, and was reportedly last used in China in the private temple of the Empress Dowager Cixi. It was purchased for Louis Comfort Tiffany of New York, who owned it for more than thirty years. The Tiffany carpet is currently attributed to the end of the Ming dynasty and is thought to have been made in the first part of the 17th century. The field pattern is composed of a repeating design of rows of lotus flowers on a soft beige ground, originally deep red, overlaid in the centre with a medallion formed by a blue line edged in ivory and pinched in the four corners. The field is enclosed by two borders on the same colour, which reappears beyond the borders to create a wide band around the outer edge. The inner border is composed of a lattice of stepped squares filled with a swastika, with a large rosette at each intersection. The outer border is a double version of the swastika fret. A section of the field is shown here, and a few other fragments survive. The Tiffany carpet clearly forms a link between the carpets made during the late 16th century and those made in the late 17th century. Examples with an identical flower design or the same specific ‘heavy’ weave are now referred to as the ‘Tiffany’ type after this most important carpet. Other carpets of this type include one in the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City and one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Tiffany type...

A Taoist lives life according to nature, trying to keep healthy from the psychophysical point of view, maintaining a deep contact with his spirituality, protecting the surrounding environment and living life with serene acceptance. This rare carpet is an expression of this philosophy, which is read through the perfect balance of its geometric shapes. In fact, many of the recurring symbols in Buddhist iconography are represented, such as the infinite knot...

This fluffy Chinese seating square was most probably woven by ethnic Hui Muslim weavers in the area of Ningxia in northern China for a Buddhist religious institution somewhere in eit...

This 20th century Chinese carpet is unusual because it is an nearly square and it is monochromatic. The subtle sculpted border features a fretwork and bat pattern...

Antique Chinese carpets were woven in classical patterns, with their fret borders, shou medallions and other far-eastern motifs. These carpets,...

In the 1930s, Shanghai, China was swept up in the Art Deco design movement. Design, architecture, art, fashion, and furniture were all influenced by this modern movement that permeat...

This small rectangular area carpet recreates traditional Chinese carpet designs with a bold color palette of maroon, navy and mustard yellow. Set against the wine-red field is a cent...