Rug - with chinoiserie scenes

The carpet is decorated with chinoiserie scenes against a white background: a garden appears in the bottom third of it, with a group of three figures holding a parasol, situated among coloured flowers, leaved trees and exotic animals beside the garden is a building with a tower. In the middle, on the left, and in the upper third on the right are green islands with leaved trees and flowers the left one shows a couple talking, while the right one depicts a building with small towers, flags, and a man smoking a pipe. The background is decorated with insects and flying birds that hold boughs with berries in their beaks. The dark brown border is filled with colourful flowery foliage and various kinds of birds. Opinions differ as to the place of manufacture. Up to 1980 it was considered to be a French carpet in the literature. Sandor Csermelyi was the first to mention in 1915 that "this kind of carpet served as a basis for French carpet making, with the works of Savonnerie as the model." Ferenc Batari, on the other hand, denies the French origin, and, on the basis of motifs identical with tapestries and embroideries made in England in the late 17th-early 18th century, he supposes the carpet was made in England. From the second half of the 17th century on, Poland joined the famous countries of carpet making the features of the Polish knotted carpets — strict geometrical ornaments, a background of natural colour, sudden, striped shading and black outlines of the motifs — in many ways agree with the exhibited piece. However at this stage of our knowledge, the place of manufacture is still in question.

See also: Museum With No Frontiers