Khotan Rugs & Carpets

Khotan (Hotan) is the easternmost of the three old Silk Road oasis cities with Kashgar farthest west and Yarkand in the middle. Today they are part of Xinjiang province. The indigenous population consists of Muslim Turkic Uighurs. Of the three, antique rugs from Kashgar are most influenced by Persian rugs with allover repeating patterns, close weaves, often silk piles with metal thread brocading, and white cotton foundations. There is nothing Chinese about these urban creations. The color schemes are naturally muted. Yarkand carpets are more brightly colored and tend toward geometric designs, often with three abstracted peony medallions on open red fields, framed by striking wide reciprocal borders. There are Chinese touches, including fret minor borders and fretwork field corners. One also finds silk Yarkands with light blue grounds and one way designs of a pomegranate tree growing from a vase at one end. Antique rugs from Yarkand generally have blue cotton wefts. Almost all East Turkestan (Xinjiang) carpets are long for their width; say six feet by twelve feet. Originally they were intended to cover the heated platforms (kang bed-stoves) in local houses. Even those later carpets intended for export have retained the format. [...]

Khotan (Hotan) is the easternmost of the three old Silk Road oasis cities with Kashgar farthest west and Yarkand in the middle. Today they are part of Xinjiang province. The indigenous population consists of Muslim Turkic Uighurs. Of the three, antique rugs from Kashgar are most influenced by Persian rugs with allover repeating patterns, close weaves, often silk piles with metal thread brocading, and white cotton foundations. There is nothing Chinese about these urban creations. The color schemes are naturally muted. Yarkand carpets are more brightly colored and tend toward geometric designs, often with three abstracted peony medallions on open red fields, framed by striking wide reciprocal borders. There are Chinese touches, including fret minor borders and fretwork field corners. One also finds silk Yarkands with light blue grounds and one way designs of a pomegranate tree growing from a vase at one end. Antique rugs from Yarkand generally have blue cotton wefts. Almost all East Turkestan (Xinjiang) carpets are long for their width; say six feet by twelve feet. Originally they were intended to cover the heated platforms (kang bed-stoves) in local houses. Even those later carpets intended for export have retained the format.

Carpet weaving in Xinjiang goes back to ancient times and tomb excavations have uncovered intact or fragmentary carpets dating before 200 AD. These are assumed to be local products. Unfortunately, there is a huge gap between these and the earliest modern Kashgar carpets are from the 17th century. The earliest surviving Khotan rugs do not seem to predate 1800.

Khotan, being closest to China proper, would be expected to have the most Chinese design influences. One notable feature is the rainbow band border, seen on many Ningxia carpets from farther east. Swastika fret borders are another far Eastern feature. Some antique rugs from Khotan employ many narrow minor borders along with one wider border in a pomegranate and leaf angular scroll. Chrysanthemum rosettes, either floating in the field or contained in boxes are another Khotan adaptation from the Chinese. The fields are generally more filled with secondary designs than in Yarkands. Often there are three or four round medallions in the Yarkand manner as major field elements, but a scatter of secondary pomegranates and stiff floral sprays is wholly Khotan. The saph (multi-niche prayer carpet) is a Khotan specialty. Each niche in the row has a different pattern set. The pomegranate tree and vase pattern also appears on antique and vintage Khotan rugs, but more abstracted and simplified. The colors of Khotan rugs are generally mellower than those on Yarkands, with soft yellow, rust red, and dark and medium blue. The Khotan weavers adopted synthetic dyes relatively early and many pieces from the early 20th century have been artificially reduced in tone. In the 1920s there was a substantial production for export of pictorial rugs with vases and precious objects arrayed horizontally. Antique Khotans have all wool foundations, but in the later 19th century cotton warps became prevalent. All East Turkestan oasis carpets are asymmetrically knotted.

Twentieth century Khotans, with their reduced tonalities and semi-abstract, semi-exotic patterns are right in line with current decorative trends.