MATTO, a semi-antique Xinjiang (Sinkiang), China, ca 128,5 x 70 cm.
A dark blue melange ground with a flower medallion, four medallions with calligraphy, two large stylized flowers and corner ornaments in light blue and ivory. The inscriptions: 和实纪念 (A present for harmony and truth)A dark blue main border with stylized flowers and symbols.
Some wear, slightly dirty, insignificant stains. The sides and ends have fold wear, one end is reduced.
Alkuperä - Provenienssi
General Ma Chung-Yin (Ma Zhongying 马仲英 / 馬仲英), also referred to as the "Big Horse", was of the Hui people and a Chinese Warlord during the 1920s-1930s in Xinjiang. To his officers, he ordered rugs in the bazaar in Xinjiang, all characterized by a medallion, four letters of writing (A gift for harmony and
truth) and two floral ornaments. The Swedish explorer and author Sven Hedin depicted the urgency of General Ma Chung-Yin's troops to sell their rugs, after adversities on the battlefield in 1934, in the book "
The flight of "Big Horse";: The trail of war in Central Asia
" (1936). Several of the officers made changes to the rugs after General Ma Chung-Yin's fall so that they could be sold more easily without being identified as the losing party.
Kirjallisuus
Compare with Hali Magazine, issue 44, April 1989, pages 16,17.