Description: A finely embroidered coverlet, Chinese for the European market, circa 1800, Qing Dynasty, the large central floral medallion with multiple petal rounds, the field with meandering tendrils and exotic flowerheads including lotus and wisteria trails which radiate from colourful vases at each corner, looped fringed silk edging, backed in pale blue silk, 231 by 173cm, 91 by 68in Provenance: This and the following lot were acquired sometime after 1865 by the British textile magnate, Sir Francis Cook, 1st Bt. (1817-1901) for his great Hispano-Moresque Palace of Monserrate at Sintra in Portugal, presumably in nearby Lisbon with its long trading associations with China through Macau. Cook, who was created Visconde de Monserrate by King Luis I of Portugal in 1870, was one of the greatest English collectors of paintings and works of art of all time. Both coverlets remained at Monserrate until circa 1930 when brought to one of the Cook family's English properties by The Hon. Lady Cook, (1873-1943). They were given by her as wedding gifts in 1942 to the parents of the present owner. The Palace of Monserrate and its world famous gardens are now the property of the Portuguese state and in 1995 they were designated by UNESCO a World Heritage Cultural Site. Exhibited: Sintra, Palace of Monserrate, 'Monserrate Revisited, The Cook Collection in Portugal', November 2017 - June 2018, and reproduced in the accompanying catalogue no 41, pp.380-381.