CIRCA: early 1900’s
A beautiful three square seating carpet from the Inner Mongolian region of China that would have been used for seating in either a Buddhist monastery or a ‘formalised’ secular setting. At the center of each of the reddish-maroon main fields is a mandala-like design closely surrounded by what appear to possibly be (four) stylised ‘stupas’*, while a floral arrangement anchors each of the four corners. Each square is then enclosed by a narrow secondary border featuring the ‘flaming jewel’. The wide main border consists of ‘cartouches’ filled with various auspicious designs, i.e. the endless knot, an interlocked swastika pattern and assorted flowers / floral displays. The narrow outer edge pile border is adorned with the Tibetan tigma design, or cross-like pattern, which denotes this carpet was almost certainly made for the Tibetan market; and the wide red cloth covered felt outer border** certainly denotes it having being used there (see that felt and how its is attached in photo center bottom row). Made circa the early 1900’s it has excellent dyes, cotton warp and weft and is backed by cotton cloth. Comes from a collection established in Kathmandu, Nepal, circa the early 1970’s. All in all a very beautiful carpet with wonderful colours, top quality wool, full pile, no repairs or reweaves and in excellent condition.
**Should one wish to remove the red cloth covered felt border, then it could be easily done leaving just the carpet itself, as shown in the example far right bottom row. NOTE; that photo is only a ‘mock-up’ example, the border has not been removed. The carpet is sold ‘as is’ with the border intact / on the carpet. (The two close-ups were taken through a small split in a join in the backing cloth.)
*A stupa (also known as a ‘chorten’ in Tibet) is an important form of religious architecture throughout Asia. They come in various sizes, and are generally considered to be a sepulchral monument holding religions remains or artifacts, and often include an outside path that pilgrims can use to circumambulate them. (The word stupa comes from Sanskrit and simply means ‘heap’, and the oldest of these religious ‘buildings’ resemble a heap of earth.) An example of a stupa is the large one at Bhodananth, Nepal.