Auspicious Carpets

It's an exciting time for those interested in Tibetan carpets and the wider world of Tibetan design. An incredible wealth of old and antique Tibetan carpets have been uncovered in the past few years. In their stunning numbers, breadth of imagination, and design virtuosity, they may soon well turn conventional carpet wisdom on its head. As with many things Tibetan, no one knows quite what to make of this treasure trove. Previous theories of a "crude imitation" of Chinese carpets simply will not do. The corpus is now too large, representing in endless variety an aesthetic sense or "aesthetic space" all its own. Together the thousands of pieces that have recently appeared form a unique world-view, one that can be felt almost subliminally, but that is very difficult to describe. They are not generally otherworldly or mystical, but rather transcendently playful, a pleasing vision of the propitious. In the Tibetan view they are, along with other decorative goods, more like auspicious companions, helping to light up the day and the night with positive energy. They are auspicious carpets.

Auspicious, however, does not mean sacred. While lama artists had a very large role in creating myriad design forms, these carpets with few exceptions were not intended for sacred use. Rather they were intended to help create an auspicious environment, an environment of good fortune, in some general way emanating a favorable connection to the unknown, yet very powerful, forces around us. Here they succeeded in a previously unimagined proliferation. There are now literally thousands of pieces available, and research is really only beginning. This research, however, will have to take a wider view than ordinary rug scholarship. Simply describing the constituent motifs is not sufficient, for the whole is greater than the parts, and the successful whole was the intended effect in the first place.

Fortunately a number of recent publications have introduced the subject, and through these one can begin to get an idea of the totality of the Tibetan aesthetic (Kuloy, 1982, 1989; Myers, 1984; Harrer, 1987; Lipton, 1988; Page, 1989; da Costa, 1989).  And the field is growing. In all the arts Tibetans had a way of keeping the best pieces back. New collections are being formed, energetic young dealers with an affinity for the auspicious are continuing to unearth ever more fantastic examples, and new publications will soon be coming out. Research is being undertaken with old Tibetan master weavers and craftsmen, and we may soon have a much clearer picture of the processes involved, both conceptual and practical. In any case there is now enough material to reach for a greater appreciation of the craft and its art.