Buddhist Temple Pillar Rug

Rug #2127
Size: 145 x 84 cm / 4.8 x 2.8 ft Tag:
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POA

‘Robed Lama blows conch’ Tibet Buddhist Pillar Pictorial Rug (one of pair) Wool Pile

This Buddhist Temple Pillar Rug is very unique both in terms of origin and purpose. These rugs are called pillar rugs as they are – by design – intended to be hung around a pillar, and so typically the pattern should be continuous once the edges meet. These pictorial rugs are most commonly produced in pairs and are widely used in temples and monasteries, particularly in Tibet and Mongolia.

Often these items have similar characteristics representing religious aspects from the Buddhist faith – in this case a red-robed Lama is seen blowing on a conch shell in a call to prayer, and the field also contains other elements of the eight auspicious symbols, including the endless knot and the treasure vase. The vivid religiously symbolic yellow wool pile field of this Buddhist Temple Pillar Rug is in splendid contrast to the other colours of this handmade item that would almost certainly have been knotted by hand in Ningxia, North-Western China in the early 20th century.

Interesting aspects of the origin of this rug relate to the interplay between faiths, and materials. The traditional thread of choice in China is silk, and so the wool used in this item is specific to the autonomous region where the faith is aligned with the majority of the Silk Road, and not the majority faith in China. Items such as this would have almost exclusively have been made using vegetable-based dyes.

For further information please contact us and our team will be pleased to assist you. All pieces in the collection are under the auspices of Essie Sakhai, one of the world’s foremost experts and collectors of fine handmade Persian rugs and carpets.

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