CIRCA: 1800’s / 19th C.
An oval shaped Tibetan makden, or under-saddle carpet, with floral roundels on either side in the main field while the main border features Inner Mongolian inspired circle motifs – that are variously referred to as ‘happiness circles’ or ‘lucky coins’ – and a unique floral display at either end. Deep rich colours with a lovely saturated dark green, a variegated abrashed medium-dark blue, and a midnight-dark blue through the center field, and a lighter blue for the background of the main border, which all appear to be from natural dyes. The four square (girth-strap) ‘holes’ are intentional, as are where the girth straps passed through as they were secured around the horse. Made sometime in the mid 1800’s, the warp and weft are both of hand-spun wool and the size is 124cm x 56cm. There is some light wear to the pile area towards either end of the center field where the riders legs have rubbed, but no ‘pile-wear-through’. This oval shape of saddle carpet is said to be, or was derived from, the earliest shape used for saddle carpets in both China and Tibet, but appears to have slowly gone ‘out of fashion’ for the more rectangular shape https://warpandweft.club/portfolio-item/makden-item-28/, or the even more modern ‘butterfly’ shape https://warpandweft.club/portfolio-item/makden-item-23/ (that is said to derive from / ‘copied’ from what was used by the British military in India during the Raj). Overall it is in good condition and of a Tibetan type and age not often seen on the market today**. ALREADY SOLD
**Thomas Cole, respected author and expert on Tibetan carpets, had this to say about the piece in a newsletter of his “An older, elegant example of weaving from the high plateau. Older than most, conventional wisdom deems the oval shape ad border motif, specifically the floral device at either end, as an indicator of real age, i.e. mid 19th century. The small round medallions in that border, too, are not the norm. A good example, artful and elegant, which too often is not ‘the norm’ for Tibetan weavings.”