Pillar Rug thumbnail 1
Pillar Rug thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
China, Room 44, The T.T. Tsui Gallery

Pillar Rug

1885 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Many Chinese Buddhist objects from the Qing Dynasty have links with Mongolia, as this pillar carpet. This rug was made specially for round temple pillars, and the curling dragon design is an appropriate one for such use, as the dragon designs join up when wrapped up around a pillar, and the rug designs look awkward when laid out flat.

The matching Mongolian and Chinese inscription at the top of each rug tells us they were presented for use in a Buddhist temple by a Mongol noble named Buringtogos.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Knotted woollen pile on cotton warp
Brief description
Pillar rug, knotted woollen pile on cotton warp, China, Qing dynasty, Guangxu period, dated 1885.
Physical description
Pillar rug, knotted in woollen pile on a cotton warp. The field has on a red ground a dragon, chiefly in blue and white, arranged so as to round the pillar on which the carpet is placed. At the bottom is wave pattern and at the top are three bands, the widest of which contains an inscription in Chinese characters.
Dimensions
  • Height: 193cm
  • Width: 112cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(Chinese inscription attributes this rug to the Yi-you year during the reign of Qianlong, i.e. 1765CE.)
Credit line
Given by Mr J. Highfield Jones
Object history
T.238, 239-1928 are examples of specially designed rugs which wrap around the pillars of temples with a curling dragon design. They were presented in 1885 for use in a Buddhist temple by a Mongol noble named Burintogos, according to the inscription at the top of each rug in Mongol and Chinese. This rug with the Chinese dedication gives a date 120 years earlier (1765), but this thought to be a weaving error.

Registered File number 1928/11150.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Many Chinese Buddhist objects from the Qing Dynasty have links with Mongolia, as this pillar carpet. This rug was made specially for round temple pillars, and the curling dragon design is an appropriate one for such use, as the dragon designs join up when wrapped up around a pillar, and the rug designs look awkward when laid out flat.

The matching Mongolian and Chinese inscription at the top of each rug tells us they were presented for use in a Buddhist temple by a Mongol noble named Buringtogos.
Bibliographic reference
Kerr, Rose ed. Chinese art and design. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1991, p. 110, Plate 43.
Collection
Accession number
T.238-1928

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Record createdDecember 15, 1999
Record URL
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