CIRCA: 1700’s / 18th C.
A very old golden-yellow carpet made in either Ningixia or Beijing, probably in the 1700s / 18th century; certainly not latter than circa 1800. It came out of Tibet circa 1960 – and was collected from a Tibetan in the late 1960’s in Kathmandu, Nepal – hence the heavy blue woolen edging (as is seen on many carpets from Tibet, or used by Tibetans). A minimum of colours have been used in its design, which are all natural dyes and has handspun cotton warp and weft; and on close inspection it has an intricately designed center field featuring lotus flowers on trellis-like leafy vines. The border is interspersed with ancient foliate dragons, only their heads recognisable, while their bodies remain ‘geometric’ in shape. It is missing a small amount of the carpet’s woven border at either ends (but not the sides) and it has several very old repairs and some holes (as can be seen in some of the photos). There is a felt strip under the blue wool border at both ends, whereas the blue overlapping border at the sides is just covering a narrow strip of the original brown dye now-corroded woven wool pile of the carpet itself – i.e. there is no felt underlay along the sides; just to give it some all-round ‘symmetry’ one might assume. It has been in the one persons hands since being collected in the late 1960’s and this is the first time on the market since then. A extraordinary very old piece suitable for a collector.