AN EIGHT IMMORTALS CARPET, QINGChina, 1800-1880. A finely woven wool rug with a scene of the Eight Immortals partaking in a game of weiqi below a towering pine tree, encircled by stylized lotus scrolls, all within a border of bats in flight.Provenance: This rug comes from a collection formed by two of the most influential Germans living and working in Tianjin in the late 19th century: Gustav Detring (1842-1913) and his son-in-law Constantin von Hanneken (1854-1925). Individually both men operated at the highest levels of the Qing bureaucracy and played historically significant roles in the politics, diplomacy and military of the tumultuous late Qing period. Whilst Detring and von Hanneken’s professional endeavors in China are well documented, their collecting activities are less known. Collecting Chinese art appears to have been something for a hobby for both men — no doubt facilitated through their close working relationships with Li Hongzhang as well as their access to the Qing court, including to the Dowager Empress Cixi and to the Guangxu emperor. Certain works from the collection were likely personally gifted to them by the Qing court, but collecting may well have also been a means of decorating their palatial Tianjin homes. In 1919, the family left Tianjin for good, settling first in Hannover but, against the backdrop of the post-war economic depression in Germany, some of the family emigrated to the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. Parts of the collection remained in Germany through the first half of the 20th century, before also making their journey to America in the 1950s where they have remained with Detring and von Hanneken’s descendants to this day.Condition: Superb condition with wear and soiling as expected on an original rug from this period.Dimensions: 240 by 155 cm.清八仙壁毯中國,1800-1880。羊毛制樹下八仙圖案壁毯,四邊蝙蝠祥雲紋。來源:來自德國私人收藏,其創始人為兩位曾于十九世紀在天津工作生活過的影響力極大的德國人:Gustav Detring (1842-1913) 與其女婿Constantin von Hanneken (1854-1925)。他們在晚清政治外交史留下很重要的影響。因爲他們與李鴻章及清廷關係密切,收藏中國藝術品成爲他們的興趣。他們離開中國回到德國漢諾威,部分家人去了美國。收藏中的部分藏品曾參加了1929年在柏林舉辦的"亞洲藝術展",之後于1950年前后去了美國,一直保留至今。品相:品相極好,磨損,如預期來自這個年代的使用痕跡相符。尺寸: 240 x 155 厘米