Duke Libraries

Ask us now
Lilly Library

Chinese Rug

Chinese Rug

Chinese Rug, 4' x 8'

Hanging on the north wall of the Thomas Room, beside the fireplace, is an ornamental rug. Woven in dark blue and tan are the mythical bird, fenghuang, and a crane surrounded by tree peonies. The fenghuang is a bird of benevolence, prosperity, and marital bliss. The symbolic female counterpart to the dragon, it is associated with an empress. Appropriately, this rug was prepared for the palace of the Empress Dowager Cixi in the Forbidden City. The inscription at the top of the rug translates, "prepared for the Palace Hall of Tranquility and Longevity." The flat metallic threads in the background were originally gold in color but have tarnished.

 

follow us on Twitter follow us on Facebook follow us on YouTube follow us on Flickr follow our blogs and feeds

Contact Us919-660-5870
(Perkins Circulation Desk)

Home | Libraries | Ask Us Now | Catalog | Hours | Library Web Site Search | Site Index

Mobile Library Home (content for handheld devices such as cellphones)

Creative Commons License

Unless otherwise specified on this page, this work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.


Last modified March 30, 2007 4:23:08 PM EDT