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His tory & Her i tage
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For centuries, rugs have been an integral part of life in
Tibet and every family has them. In this country of
practical people, rugs are intended to be functional
and utilitarian and in fact are often worn to shreds,
then replaced rather than repaired. A well-loved rug
might be copied or cut up with its usable pieces reas-
signed to a mat or used under a saddle. There is a
Tibetan saying: one man, one rug; each man and each
rug has a life expectancy.
The lack of “heirlooms” and the plunder that fol-
lowed the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the late 1950s
are difficulties often cited by scholars seeking the his-
tory of Tibetan rug making. Yet evidence exists from
folkloric and religious citings which go back at least
to the 7th century in legends, including one told about
a lama who meditated on a square rug decorated with
sacred symbols; to actual rug fragments carbon dated
to the 15th century.
The story of woolcraft began very early accord-
ing to Kesang Tashi, the author of Of Wool and
Loom—The Tradition of Tibetan Rugs, owner of
InnerAsia Rugs based in Hanover, NH and founder of
the Khawachen Arts and Craft Center in Lhasa. “Look
at the geography: very high up, average elevation
11,000 feet and the land is desolate and harsh, cold,”
he said. “In order for Tibetans to survive they were
endowed with vast stretches of grassland as well as
sheep and yaks. Very early on they learned how to
domesticate the sheep in order to get the wool,” said
Mr. Tashi. “Yak hair is used to make tents that are
very thick and heavy, practically permanent houses
for nomads. From that very functional, rudimentary
shelter of flatweave tents, the flatweave gradually
evolved and branched out.”
11000000 MMOONNKKSS OONN RRUUGGSSBuddhism, introduced from the Indian subconti-
nent in the 7th century, unified Tibet and became the
official state religion in the 8th century. Now rugs
were not only used in the home, but also in Buddhist
monasteries. There, signs of deterioration on a rug
might indicate where a stand for texts had rested, or
where a lama’s heel had laid in repose while studying
that text. There might be holes where monks sat again
and again to meditate.
As monasteries proliferated, especially between
the 16th and 19th centuries, so did the manufacture of
rugs and sacred Tibetan Buddhist art. Some rugs
found in monasteries are thought to have been made
in China for sale in Tibet; in fact, rug production for
export to Tibet might have been the impetus to the
development of rug making in China.
IINN TTIIBBEETT,, OONNEE MMAANN,, OONNEE RRUUGGby Ellyne Raueber
OPPOSITE, TOP Two Tibetan weavers at work, creating a rug. Courtesy of InnerAsia Rugs, Hanover, NH/Khawachen, Lhasa, Tibet.
OPPOSITE, BOTTOM Craft spinning in Tibet. Courtesy of InnerAsia Rugs, Hanover, NH/Khawachen, Lhasa, Tibet
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It is probable that by the 19th century many
monasteries had organized workshops that met some
of the monasteries’ own needs. Weavings, which in
wealthy monasteries were frequently replaced, were
also purchased, or donated in lieu of taxes. Monks and
lamas enjoyed these traditionally beautiful works in
their private rooms as well as in the great halls, which
often held thousands of monks at a time. Some esti-
mate that there were some 300,000 monks in Tibet at
any given time.
WWAANNGGDDEENN AANNDD DDRRUUMMZZEETsukdruks are blankets that were woven by
nomadic women who used horizontal backstrap
looms to produce narrow strips which were then sewn
together. “The tsukdruk is probably one of the earliest
wool weaves having some kind of a pile,” said Mr.
Tashi. He explained that tsukdruks gradually evolved
into wangdens which then evolved into drumses, the
Tibetan word for rug.
Wangden rugs, too heavy for horizontal looms
and therefore woven on vertical looms, are character-
ized by their square shape, looser weave, thicker pile,
“warp-faced” rug backing, and often, a dense and
shaggy fringe on all four sides. These early Tibetan
pile rugs were in great demand by monasteries, valued
for the insulation and warmth they provided to medi-
tating monks of Buddhist—or even Bon, pre-
Buddhist—traditions. “If I were a wangden weaver,”
said Mr. Tashi, “and I organized some relatives to
weave wangdens to sell, instead of just for family use,
the obvious place to go to sell is the monastery
because they had the money and would buy in bulk.
Many wangdens ended up in the monastery, which is
why you see many with Buddhist symbols.”
The wangden rug is named after its town of ori-
gin, Wangden. “That is further west of the Gyantse,
the area probably the most renowned when the
drumse or the pile carpet as we know it began to flour-
ish,” explained Mr. Tashi. “It all started very simply:
ABOVE Tiger rug, Tibet, late 19th century. Sold April 1, 2003.Photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc. ©
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less color, very little design, and a primitive loose
weave that gradually evolved from a flatweave to
wangden. Then it got to a stage called “knife cut,”
then it jumped to drumse characterized by a tighter
weave, a more complex design, and more colors.”
Some drumse have fringe and a soft warp back-
ing, popular elements that added extra warmth. Mr.
Tashi’s antique Tibetan rug collection, now part of the
Newark Museum’s extensive Arts of Asia Collection,
has a few pieces of drumse weave with, he said, “a
look of warm and frizzy frills on the edge because the
weaver really liked it. The beauty of Tibetan rugs is
that it is very individualized and people weave what
they like.”
Logical deduction as well as historical records
can date the drumse to as far back as the 11th century
when Tibet’s famous poet, Melarepa, used the word.
“Melarepa taught by bursting into spontaneous verses
about impermanence, among other things. He
referred, in this incredible heightened sense, to final-
ly meeting his Guru. He described how the Guru was
sitting on a khaden, the stuffed cushion, and covering
that was a drumse,” said Mr. Tashi.
SSIITT,, SSLLEEEEPP,, MMEEDDIITTAATTEELong, narrow runners, often with defined squares
to show where each monk should sit, were laid out in
monastery assembly halls where services were held;
while high ranking monks sat on three-foot square
drumses or wangdens used on low platforms or on
thrones. Borrowing from a Chinese tradition, rugs
with auspicious designs were used to cover pillars in
monasteries, while coarsely-knotted rugs covered
entryways. Less common are purely decorative rugs
found hanging on monastery walls and covering pil-
lows.
Some say that in monasteries, the sacred motifs
were used to ground and protect the monks; while in
homes they provided uplifting decoration and
warmth. “It is subject to interpretation,” said Mr.
Tashi. “For laity to sit on a serious religious symbol
would appear to be disrespectful, but if the Dalai
Lama is sitting on a rug made for him with all of these
symbols, it was meant for him; so it then becomes a
question of doctrine.”
The practical 3x6 drumse, used as a sleeping rug,
is found throughout Tibet. “In, for lack of other
words, a middle class family, there would be multiple
rugs. In the sitting room they would have minimally
three beds and possibly up to six or eight beds. They
would each have a pair of rugs on top of them,” Mr.
Tashi said. He explained that the bed would double as
a daytime sofa with the addition of two three-foot-
long gabneys, or stuffed backrests the covers of which
were rugs. Wealthy homes might have six, seven or
eight rugs piled one atop another.
SSAADDDDLLEE UUPPSaddle sets, blankets and horse trappings—acces-
sories and adornments used on horses, mules and
yaks—were another rug category to be found in
everyday life. They often featured medallions and
“frog feet” in central patterns. Saddle sets, rarely
found intact today, allowed for one rug under the sad-
dle and one on top as a cushion for the rider. After
Britain invaded Tibet in 1904, saddle rugs were fash-
ioned in a butterfly shape with rounded edges, just
like the cloths used by British troops.
Mr. Tashi noted that today, Tibetans who are
financially successful are buying horses and equip-
ping them with traditional Tibet saddle rugs. There
also is a revival of polo (polo is the Tibetan word for
ball). With antique saddle rugs prohibitively expen-
sive, Mr. Tashi is producing a collection at the
Khawachen Arts and Craft Center in Lhasa, which he
opened in the hope of continuing the tradition of
Tibetan rug weaving and other Tibetan arts. Created
for the domestic market, saddle rugs will be shown
this year at a rug exhibition in Amdo.
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38 Summer 2013
WWEEAAVVIINNGGTibetans use a distinctive weft wrapping tech-
nique. There are fragments of rugs from the third and
fourth century found elsewhere that have a loop simi-
lar to that used in Tibet, but none in more recent his-
tory, except in Tibet. Yarn is looped over a gauge rod
once and then looped around, usually, two warps; then
around the rod again. The size of the rod establishes
the gauge/length of the pile. When a row of loops is
completed, a sharp instrument is used to cut the yarn
along the groove where the rod meets the warp. The
weaver can then remove the rod that is no longer
wrapped in the yarn. The result is a row of pile that
resembles overlapping shingles. With some excep-
tions for very early rugs, vertical looms are used.
No one really knows why Tibetans use this
method. Fragments from non-Tibetan rugs like some
found in Eastern Turkestan, use similar looping meth-
ods; but those methods were discontinued, except in
Tibet, where they continue to differentiate Tibetan
rugs from other rugs.
CCOOLLOORRThe Himalayas are beautiful, but not colorful so
color in objects was important. In fact, the use of
brighter color is one tool used to determine if a rug is
Tibetan rather than Chinese. A variety of natural dyes
were originally used including madder for reds, the
rare orange, and browns; lac for brighter reds like
crimson and magenta; and imported indigo for blues.
Walnut husks were used for browns, especially when
madder was unavailable. Color sources for yellow, in
an array of plant dyes, were rhubarb leaves; possibly
turmeric and safflower; and saffron, also used for
orange. Where designs were minimalist, abrash might
have been used as a design element.
With the advent of synthetic dyes, colors became
more vibrant. Synthetic dyes were easier to use, espe-
cially when deep, rich colors were the goal, which
they were in this colorless terrain where combinations
of red, blue and yellow were often used. The change
occurred between 1885 and 1890. Some believe that
the use of synthetic dye differentiates antique from
more modern Tibetan rugs. It should be noted, how-
ever, that the introduction of synthetic dye was
uneven, with some weavers in Lhasa, Shigatse and
Gyantse using natural dyes into the 1940s and some
synthetic dyes not reaching some villages until many
years later.
DDEESSIIGGNNAntique Tibetan rug designers had more freedom
than artists who were creating sacred works. They
reimagined religious symbols; copied existing designs
from fragments or from memory, leaving room for the
error of inventiveness; and created one-of-a-kind rugs
by combining design elements in new ways, some-
times arriving at the atypical and original. Designs
were inspired by Buddhism, mythology and textiles.
Rugs intended for Buddhist Monasteries most
often followed a set of design rules applied to reli-
gious art and therefore would not be used for anything
other than ritual practice. They featured Buddhist
symbols like the double dorje (thunderbolt and/or dia-
mond in Sanscrit) embodying the force of the thun-
derbolt and the indestructibility of the diamond; rep-
resenting firmness of wisdom and spiritual power.
The endless knot is equated to the cycle of life; and
the swastika, later defiled by the Nazis, is the Sanskrit
symbol for auspicious.
OPPOSITE, TOP Geometric Pattern Carpet; Tibet; early 20th century; wool warp and weft; 27/27.25 x 27.875/27.75 in.; Collectionof Robert and Lois Baylis. Photograph courtesy of The Rubin Museum of Art.
OPPOSITE, BOTTOM Checkerboard rug, Tibet, late 19th century, 2.10x5.8. Sold for $16,000 on April 15, 1998 at Sotheby’s.Photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc.©.
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His tory & Her i tage
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Rug makers borrowed, reinterpreted and applied
to rugs textile designs from other cultures; or from
their own textiles, like tigma, a Tibetan tie-dyed
design of crosses that could be used to create a beau-
tifully fluid field pattern. “It is in textile, but then it
got reinterpreted in pile. You would get tigma and tex-
tile pieces from the backstrap,” said Mr. Tashi. “For a
long time now in Tibet tigma has been called gyalo—
which literally means return from China—because it
was originally exported abroad and then, because it
was so successful there, the Tibetans said, ‘wow, now
I see why: it is so elegant;’ so they began using the
design again.”
Weaving also took place on the large estates of
the landed gentry. An increase in trade at around the
end of the 19th century brought economic growth and
wealth to monasteries and land owning families who
often then emulated Chinese lifestyle. “In the 1920s
and ‘30s there was a rug weaving renaissance. Rugs
were being woven all the time, but that is when rugs
went up a notch in terms of complexity, choice of
design and color, and became very ornamental,” said
Mr. Tashi. “Aristocrats would have weavers from
Gyntse and elsewhere come to their estates in Lhasa
in the fall and weave so that the rugs would be ready
for the New Year.”
The rugs were objects of beauty that also added to
a household’s wealth. Rugs could be taken from a
stored surplus when there was a need to give an
important gift, something that had the cachet of hav-
ing been woven on the estate. It was not uncommon
for the head of the household to get involved, select-
ing a brocade with designs thought translatable to
rugs. “Many fancied themselves designers and would
work with the weavers,” said Mr. Tashi. “These tex-
tiles came from China. Ming design seems to have
been favored by Tibetans because of the very good
relations they had at that time and because they had
the quality of simple elegance.”
Mary Jo Otsea, Worldwide Director of the
Carpets Department at Sotheby’s, also mentioned
rugs made at this time. “A lot of them were made at
BELOW Leopardskin Carpet; Tibet; early 20th century; wool warp and weft; 62 x 34 in.; Collection of Robert and Lois Baylis.Courtesy of The Rubin Museum of Art.
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the turn of the last century and have fugitive dyes that
bleed,” she said, “but they can be charming and pret-
ty.” Ms. Otsea does not feel that these rugs are finely
woven or wear particularly well. “But, she said, “we
did sell a checkerboard rug in 1998 for $16,000.”
AATT TTHHEE RRUUBBIINNIn the summer of 2011, The Rubin Museum of
Art, New York, NY which holds one of the world’s
most important collections of Himalayan art, present-
ed Patterns of Life, The Art of Tibetan Carpets. The
carpets in this exhibit date from the early 20th centu-
ry and show the beauty of the rugs woven during the
rug renaissance noted by Mr. Tashi. A wonderful
small, square drumse with the talismanic crosses of
the tigma design is represented, as is a carpet with a
floral motif, popular in Tibetan design.
In the category of geometric designs, the medal-
lion became the most common design feature, usually
using a three-medallion motif—with the central
medallion being different from the other two—that
originated in East Turkistan; but sometimes featuring
only one naturalistic central medallion. The checker-
board, another common Tibetan rug design, also
serves as an astrological chart and can be found on
monastery walls. The design, found on tsukdruk
looped pile strips as well, may be one of the oldest
Tibetan rug designs.
AANNIIMMAALLSS IINN DDEESSIIGGNNAnimals appear as an important design element.
Phoenixes and dragons, considered demonic in
Central Asia, are more playful in Tibet. Tibetans
equate dragons, which were said to live in both heav-
en and earth, with strength and power while phoenix-
es are believed to be protective. There are many folk-
loric meanings to their appearance together on a rug:
one is a blessing of harmony, domestic and marital.
These symbols often appeared in 20th century multi-
colored rugs which were sold commercially.
In terms of Tibetan rug collecting, tiger rugs are a
popular choice. “The most consistently valuable
BELOW Four Auspicious Animals Carpet; Tibet; early 20th century; wool warp and weft; 23.75 x 29 in.; Collection of Robert andLois Baylis. Courtesy of The Rubin Museum of Art.
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Tibetan rugs are the tiger skin rugs, the ones with the
very stylized tiger stripes, the very abstract ones; peo-
ple love them,” Ms. Otsea said. Tigers are a symbol of
power, strength, and fearlessness. Whole tigers,
flayed tigers, and tigers abstracted down to striped
prints comprise a rug design subset. They are said to
provide protection and are found on throne backs and
panels used on monastery halls, as well as in homes,
where they may be more decorative than protective.
Single or paired tigers frolicking are referred to as
“happy tigers.” (On exhibit at The Rubin Museum
were a black tiger striped print on an orange field, and
a sleeping rug that shows a tiger in a bamboo grove on
one side and on the other side, a mythical snow lion
with mountains in the background.)
Cranes are a symbol of good luck, as are snow
lions, considered guardians in the Tibetan culture.
Elephants, symbolically auspicious animals, are
rarely found on rugs. Frog footprints show up as a
design element, although no one knows how the
design originated.
RRUUGGSS FFOORR SSAALLEEWhen the Chinese invaded Tibet in the late 1950s
it was the end of an era of peace. Some posit that an
enormous number of rugs were looted or confiscated
by Chinese soldiers. Tibetans hid rugs and those who
fled brought rugs out. There was a flood of rugs; and
then there was a dearth. Antique rugs do continue to
be found and valued; and there need be no worry that
Tibetan rugs and rug making will disappear as an art
and craft form.
Rugs are being produced today at the Khawachen
Arts and Craft Center in Lhasa, and elsewhere in
Tibet. At the same time, weavers who left Tibet creat-
ed rug weaving centers in other countries like Nepal,
Bhutan and India, and, together with many American
manufacturers, including ORIA members, are creat-
ing newly designed rugs of great beauty, using age-
old skills. As some weavers are able to weave designs
from memory or just by looking at patterns, older, rec-
ognizably Tibetan motifs will continue to appear on
these new rugs, as will more contemporary designs,
all of which will be the heirlooms of tomorrow.
BELOW Tibetan weaver high up on a loom. Courtesy of InnerAsia, Hanover, NH/Khawachen, Lhasa, Tibet.
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Once again, carpets have been rotated in The New
York Metropolitan Museum’s Art of the Arab Lands,
Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and South Asia Galleries.
Walter Denny, Senior Consultant to the Met and
Professor of Art History and Adjunct Professor of
Middle Eastern Studies at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, commented on the white-
ground medallion carpet from 16th-century Ushak in
western Anatolia currently on view at the Museum.
Professor Denny said: “Among the dozens of sur-
viving examples of early Ushak carpets with medal-
lions, this example is noteworthy for its unusual col-
oration, superb artistic quality, extraordinary state of
preservation, and the presence of a white background
field ornamented with chintemani—three small round
‘spots’ and two parallel wavy ‘bands’ that together
constitute a symbol of good luck.
“Originally arising from a Buddhist tradition—
the word chintemani is Sanskrit for ‘auspicious
jewel’—these spots and stripes by the 16th century
had become a virtual symbol for the Ottoman Empire,
appearing in Ottoman ceramic wares, wall tiles, car-
pets, woven and embroidered costumes, marquetry
made from wood, mother-of-pearl and ivory, and
Ottoman metalware and stonecarving.”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located at Fifth
Avenue and 82nd Street in New York City. It opens at
9:30 Tuesday through Sunday and closes at 5:30,
except for Friday and Saturday when it stays open
until 9:00 pm. Check www.metmuseum.org or call
212-535-7710 for further information.
New On View At The Metby Ellyne Raeuber
Ushak Medallion Carpet on White Ground, first half 17th century, Turkey. Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetricallyknotted pile; 25’5x12’7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift ofCaroline and Joseph S. Gruss, 1984. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.