Table cover of knotted silk, China, 18th centurySILK PILE TABLE or ALTAR CARPET
Knotted silk pile on silk warp with silk welt;
282sehna knots to the square inch.
CHINESE, 1800-1850, Qing dynasty
T.556-1919 [?]Table cover of silk, knotted in the manner of a carpet, in blue, green, red and deep yellow, on a deep yellow background. The pattern consists of an oblong compartment outlined with key ornamentation, which gets bigger in the corners. Filling this oblong compartment is a representation of the sun, surrounded by conventional leafy stems bearing a variety of flowers. In the spaces between the flowers are bats and homonyms for happiness. There is a wide border, filled with bats of the same kind of floral stems in the main pattern.