The study of medallions which occur in fields of Chinese rugs is not only interesting but is an important aid in determining their age; yet it should be remembered that approved patterns were often repeated even after the introduction of more elaborate styles. Many of the oldest medallions were copied from bronzes or mirror backs, and their drawing is geometric except as embellished by some conventionalised figures of the dragon. By a process of evolution these figures, in turn, were converted into scrolls, which in time were replaced by elaborate leaf and flower patterns.
In Plate [M], Fig. 1 (opp. Page 272), is a “Shou” design of octagonal shape, copied from an old rug which was probably woven during the early part of the XVII Century.
Plate M. Medallions in Chinese Rugs
Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of Plate [M], represent fret-covered medallions, which also are found in rugs of the same period. The first is probably the oldest pattern; and the last, to judge by the panel surrounding it, was apparently copied from a bronze mirror back.
In Plate [M], Fig. 5, is a copy of a medallion similar to the one shown in Plate [M], Fig. 2, but with the dragons replaced by frets.
A medallion of greater interest is illustrated in Plate [M], Fig. 6. It shows the evolution of scrolls from dragons, of which the heads alone betray their origin. Such medallions are found mostly in the earliest rugs.
By comparing Fig. 7 of Plate [M] with the preceding, it is apparent that its scrolls had a similar origin, but in this one the dragon heads have entirely disappeared. The design is characteristic of the early Kang-hi rugs.