CIRCA: 1900
Beautifully abrashed lustrous burgundy coloured four-panel Tibetan tsuktruk with soft deep pile. These soft very pliable rugs, more akin to a thick ‘blanket’ (and used as such by Tibetans) have a much more flexible ‘handle’ than a bed or floor rug and were first hand woven as individual strips – four in this case – then hand stitched together to make the one piece as seen here. (The individual strips were at times woven by different weavers in a small group, before being finally stitched together as the finished piece by a single weaver.) Woven with hand-spun wool warp and weft, and pile (that has been coloured using natural organic dye, with the colour suggesting monastic use) circa 1900*. In excellent condition with no damage or repairs.
*A very similar tsuktruk of about the same age and colour, but with five panels, can be found on page 172 in the excellent (reference) book on Tibetan carpets, etc; The Land Of The Snow Dragon by Michael Budderberg.