Image Carpets

Antique Chinese Ningxia Rug-161202

Conjoint Pair of Antique Ningxia Seating Square Rugs

Such small, square rugs were often used in the meditation halls of Buddhist monasteries as sections oflong runners composed of numerous panels, one panel to each seated monk. This pair comes from such a runner. The golden yellow fields each display a medallion of four stylised paeonies around a square containing four swastika boxes, with fretwork corners The zig zag main borders have a fractional textile pattern of partial quatrefoils with the triangular reserves. Ningxia is in north central China and has been weaving rugs since the early 17th century. Seating square runners are a particular specialty of the city and do not seem to have been woven elsewhere. The wool is particularly soft and fleecy, the yellow dye is even and saturated without being overly sharp, and the handle is pliable. The indigo blue is particularly deep and the red tends toward salmon.