£15,000 - £25,000
A very rare & important Imperial kesi silk floor covering, Qianlong period (1736-1795), with six five-clawed front facing dragon roundels among bats, fruit & flowers on a gold thread ground, above waves with Buddhistic treasures, all within borders of scrolling flowers on a ground made from peacock feathers, reduced from a larger piece, 83.5 by 64ins. (212 by 163cms.) (overall) (see illustration). Provenance - the present lot was discovered in the attic of a property in a nearby South Coast town in the autumn of 2016, and was subsequently professionally restored. Footnote - an identical but complete example (with nine dragon roundels rather than the six on the present incomplete lot) was sold Christie's Hong Kong, 27th November 2007, lot 1824, where John Vollmer writes 'there, is, however, little doubt this textile was created for the Qianlong Emperor's personal use'. Furthermore he writes 'We can speculate that this carpet would have been part of a suite of textiles, including cushion covers for seating furniture as well as screen panels or hangings; however no surviving objects have been located at this time to confirm this hypothesis'. The present lot supports this hypothesis.
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