extremly rare and important dragon and tiger rug fragment with great achaic look. this is the top part of a rug representing a flying dragon over a background of a tiger stripes design. few pieces with this design have been published ( 3 or 4), according to what i know about this (i had also had another fragment -but complete in size- many years ago, more or less from that age), this one is possibly the oldest remnant of this group. very worn, but fortunately many important parts of the design are still with pile. please look at the details images for a good rendition of the colours; the wool is of a great quality. on the main view, the worn areas are reflecting the light, really difficult to catch the real look of the piece. this has a great age, for a pile rug! china, ming dynastie, before 1644, possibly 15th, 16th century, 145x 120cm.