Imperial Workshops of Xinjiang
China
Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Qianlong period (1736-1795)
175 x 265 cm
Asymmetrical knot
Silk pile, gilded copper threads
Silk warp and weft
Excellent condition,
very small areas of low pile
Published:
The Garden of Pomegranates, Textilia, 2004
The Flower of Buddha, Silk and Metal Carpets from the Forbidden City, Textilia, 2006, p. 54 catalogue n°7
Dragons, Orientalis, 2009
Exhibited:
Dec 2, 2004 – Feb 28, 2005 – Galleria Textilia, Roma
IL GIARDINO DEI MELOGRANI
Mar 19 – Jun 15, 2007 – Danon Gallery, New York
THE FLOWER OF BUDDHA
Silk and Metal Carpets from the Forbidden City
Mar 12 – Apr 30, 2009 – Danon Gallery, New York
D R A G O N S
Nine Imperial Court Carpets from the Qing Dynasty
Sep 1, 2010 – Mar 31, 2011 – Danon Gallery, New York
THE SECRETOF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
Carpets from the Qianlong Palace
Provenance:
Collection of Benjamin Bolour, Los Angeles
IMPERIAL CARPETS – THE MEANING OF FIVE AND NINE
The main symbol on a carpet usually only occurs five or nine times, like five or nine dragons, five lions, nine phoenixes. Five and nine are two very important numbers within the ancient Chinese numerical description of the world.
Five (Wu) connotes the four cardinal points plus the center, and reflects the Five Agents - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each Agent corresponds a spatial direction, a season, a quadrant of the sky symbolized by an animal, a color and, by extension, any element in life that may be arranged within a quinary system.
Representing the fullest expression of yang, Nine (Jiu) is closely associated with heaven in that it evoked infinity, partly because it was the product of three times three, the most basic unit of three being heaven, earth and man, and partly because the number nine was homophone with the word Jiu meaning eternity.
