CIRCA: 1700’s / 18th C.
A stunning double (or ‘crossed’) vajra / dorje* meditation seating square from Ningxia with a forceful symbolic presence and a visual energy woven into the design that makes it appear to be emanating outwards in a burst-like fashion. A very pleasing, aesthetically balanced visual representation of this design and in good condition for its age, so wear commensurate with long term use. True artistry has been shown here by the weaver and the use of wool for weft is rare in a Ningxia carpet that suggests an early provenance. Made sometime in the 1700’s / 18th century it has all natural dyes, cotton warp and wool left and size is 82cm x 72cm. A collectors piece with wear commensurate with age but still in very good condition overall.
* In Buddhism a vajra (which is a Sanskrit word, or ‘dorje’ in Tibetan) is a sacred ceremonial or ritual ‘weapon’, mainly employed in the Vedic ritual for dispelling evil forces in Tantric Buddhism in Tibet. It is a powerful Buddhist protective symbol of the unbreakable force of the enlightened state that cannot be destroyed but itself destroys all evil. A single dorje is shaped like a type of double-ended club with ribbed spherical ends – as seen in the illustration above – whereas here the central motif shows two dorje’s crossed or ‘doubled’.