Antique Tibetan Monastic Tiger Rug
Tigers are not native animals of the Tibetan plateau; however their presence in neighbouring countries such as China and India partly explain its depiction, both in a realistic as well as in an abstract fashion, on a specific group of antique Tibetan weavings. The tiger pelt became a symbol of high rank in Tibet, employed almost exclusively on weavings which belonged to the religious as well as secular upper class. Following a series of important exhibitions and publications, rugs with this design have become exceedingly rare and sought-after.
On this rare monastic example, the tiger pelt rug is rolled up into a cylinder, filled with straw and hung, together with its pair, on both sides of the entrance to the Lama’s audience room in the monastery as a protection against evil.