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6
Tibet Dragon Rug
New
160 x 88 cm (5' 3" x 2' 11")
Tibet, early 20th century
Condition: very good, good pile, minor small repairs
Warp: cotton, weft: cotton, pile: wool
Tibetan rugs featuring dragons are among the most sought-after pieces for collectors of rugs from the "Roof of the World." Unusually, four dragons are depicted here. Almost always, when four mythical creatures are found in this arrangement, they consist of two dragons and two phoenixes. These symbolize the emperor and the empress.
However, there are two rugs documented in the literature that are unusual for various reasons but also feature four dragons. One is a particularly large rug with four dragons circling a lotus-blossom medallion. A T-meander border frames this piece, which is illustrated on page 59 of Tom Cole's "Dream Weavers".
The other is a Ming-style rug featuring dragons among clouds, found in "Woven Jewels, Tibetan Rugs from the Rutherford Collection", no. 5. In this rug, the dragons are chasing a large flame pearl. The flame pearl symbolizes wisdom and enlightenment, and in most rugs of this type, the dragons are depicted chasing precisely this. In our rug and the Cole rug, they were apparently particularly successful at this, as each dragon holds four of them in its claws.
In this piece, magnificent lotus blossoms sit at both ends. Green tendrils extend from them, and one might think they are slightly imperfect. At the upper end, however, they are depicted in exactly the same way. So was this intentional, or was an attempt made here to cover up a "mistake"?
One could also imagine placing an identical carpet right next to it. Then the tendrils and the cut-off clouds would connect the two pieces. Perhaps this was exactly what was originally intended.
Estimate: € 6000 - 8000
Tibet, early 20th century
Condition: very good, good pile, minor small repairs
Warp: cotton, weft: cotton, pile: wool
Tibetan rugs featuring dragons are among the most sought-after pieces for collectors of rugs from the "Roof of the World." Unusually, four dragons are depicted here. Almost always, when four mythical creatures are found in this arrangement, they consist of two dragons and two phoenixes. These symbolize the emperor and the empress.
However, there are two rugs documented in the literature that are unusual for various reasons but also feature four dragons. One is a particularly large rug with four dragons circling a lotus-blossom medallion. A T-meander border frames this piece, which is illustrated on page 59 of Tom Cole's "Dream Weavers".
The other is a Ming-style rug featuring dragons among clouds, found in "Woven Jewels, Tibetan Rugs from the Rutherford Collection", no. 5. In this rug, the dragons are chasing a large flame pearl. The flame pearl symbolizes wisdom and enlightenment, and in most rugs of this type, the dragons are depicted chasing precisely this. In our rug and the Cole rug, they were apparently particularly successful at this, as each dragon holds four of them in its claws.
In this piece, magnificent lotus blossoms sit at both ends. Green tendrils extend from them, and one might think they are slightly imperfect. At the upper end, however, they are depicted in exactly the same way. So was this intentional, or was an attempt made here to cover up a "mistake"?
One could also imagine placing an identical carpet right next to it. Then the tendrils and the cut-off clouds would connect the two pieces. Perhaps this was exactly what was originally intended.
Estimate: € 6000 - 8000