Another method of covering the field in early Ming rugs is to work the ground in solid color, upon which are distributed dots or stripes suggestive of tiger or leopard skins, which without doubt they copied. In the center of rugs of this class are large squares of another color, in which are grouped mythological objects most crudely drawn.
Examination of the borders which commonly surround rugs of this special style is most helpful in determining the age of specimens, for when old styles are copied in the field, borders of late date are sometimes used.
This often proves a rug to be a copy, which otherwise might have been considered an original.
