Though not actually a pair in the strict sense, these two small rugs are very similar. Their size indicates that they served as coverings for high-backed chairs or thrones. They are from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, whose Muslim ethnic minority of Uyghurs have a long history of carpet making. Their products are often erroneously referred to on the market as Samarkand rugs, a reference to the city in modernday Uzbekistan, which was above all a trading centre rather than a place of production. 

Alberto Boralevi