Large Tibet
460 x 152 cm (15' 1" x 5')
Tibet, early 20th century
Condition: good, scattered low pile, both upper corners slightly restored, scattered small repairs
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

Large-format Tibetan carpets are extremely rare, but can measure over five meters in length. These were generally not made for monasteries, but for royal households. Smaller carpets featuring Chinese-influenced brocade patterns do exist, but they are also rare.
In Thomas Wild's book "Drumze: Metamorphoses of the Tibetan Carpet", Plate 26 depicts such a carpet whose ground color resembles that of our piece. The version shown there also features the brocade medallion as an endless repeat, with medallions cut off at the sides and both ends, though without a border.
For pieces with a border, the T-shaped meander border is the standard. In Hallvard Kåre Kuløy's "Tibetan Rugs", such a piece with a similar ground color is shown. This one also has a more elongated format than ours; unfortunately, the dimensions are not specified.
In Franz Bausback's small exhibition catalog of the Grelle Collection, "Lamaist Meditation Rugs from Tibet", a brocade-patterned rug with a meander border in the same base color is also depicted. What is remarkable in comparison to the examples mentioned, aside from the size of our piece, is the exceptionally delicate design of the medallions.
The small patterns in the field are often called "frog's foot" patterns, but are likely more closely related to the Buddhist flame symbol.