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Articles on Chinese & Tibetan Rugs
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Chinese Carpets - Art From the Steppes Writing about so-called Chinese rugs in 1972, HA Lorentz commented that, “Chinese literature, so eloquent in other fields so far, is silent about them, their origin is obscure.” |
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A Saddle Rug from the Roof of the World by Tom Cole While resident in Nepal during the late 1980s, the author acquired a battered but beautiful knotted pile saddle rug, whose colouring and design link it to the wider weaving traditions of the Steppe nomads of Central Asia..... I discovered it one sunny February morning in Kathmandu before the joyous festival of Losar, Tibetan New Year, when all Tibetans of modest means seek out supplementary funds to finance the week-long celebrations..... read more |
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Tibetan Rugs - A Tribal Tradition by Tom Cole Tibetan rugs occupy a lowly place in the hierarchy of oriental carpets. All too often Tibetophiles have exhibited late, synthetic dyed, truly forgettable weavings, bypassing the critical aesthetic standards by which all artifacts should be judged. But there are Tibetan rugs of undoubted age and beauty. Now, as a more representative sampling of antique tribal weavings begins to reach the Western market, a dealer and collector with wide Himalayan experience reviews the field, offers some speculative new ideas on the subject, and attempts to assess Tibetan carpets in a fairer light, even if, as he believes, entrenched prejudices will die hard. In particular, he proposes that conventional references to Chinese and Buddhist influence are inappropriate and suggest that the Tibetan weaving tradition should instead be viewed in a Central Asian tribal context.......read more. |
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Speculation on the Earliest Surviving Chinese Rugs The dating of Chinese rugs has long been controversial, and, over the years, there have often been extravagant claims for rugs that are surely less than a century old. Slowly however, grouping have emerged which allow the division of Chinese rugs into those with handspun foundation yarns, which there is good reason to assign to the first two thirds of the 19th century or earlier, and rugs with machine-spun cotton foundations, which may be assigned to a later period. read more...... Posted September 17, 2004 |
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Images of Lost Civilization - The Ancient Rock Art of Upper Tibet by John Bellezza A rock art tradition found on the highest parts of the Tibetan plateau chronicles at least 3000 years of a fascinating but little known civilization. Centered in the northern and western regions of Tibet, the broad extent of this rock art is just now coming to light. The prehistoric phase of this tradition was produced by the same people who created the Zhang zhung kingdom in the period before Buddhist domination some 1400 years ago. read more..... Posted September 17, 2004 |
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In the Plateau Style by Tom Cole Few old Tibetan rugs that verifiably pre-date the late 19th century have survived the intensive use to which they were subjected, and the history of Tibetan rug weaving has been obscured by a dearth of documentation and observation. However, despite its apparent isolation, art from the Tibetan Plateau has, over many centuries, synthesised ideas and images derived from contacts stretching from Central Asia and East Turkestan, through Nepal and India, to Mongolia and China… read more..... Posted November 20, 2004 |
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Tibetan Rugs - A Cultural Crossroads by Tom Cole The subject of tribal origins of Tibetan rugs has been discussed previously in this journal, perhaps to the point of belaboring this non-issue, but, due to the general unfamiliarity with the art form, I felt it has been necessary to discuss the question at length. However, the existence of tribal rugs in Tibet, and the probability of nomadic production, does not preclude (nor dismiss) the existence of a sophisticated production from a sedentary population. read more..... Posted October 28, 2006 |
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Rugs of East Turkestan - Khotan, Yarkand or Kashgar by George O'Bannon The appearance of a number of rugs from East Turkestan in recent auctions and the record setting prices achieved for many of them prompted me to take a closer look at the literature on these rugs. At the same time, I knew of a large group of these rugs in the inventory of Timur Shah of Afghanistan's Nomadic Rugs in Atlanta. I conducted a structural analysis of several and sent samples of the colors of seven to Paul Mushak for dye analysis. The following article and Dr. Mushak's accompanying dye study report the results of this survey. read more... Posted September 3, 2007 NEW !! |
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