Saddle Rug
date: label: Accession Date
content: 30 Jun 1893
label: Collection Date
content: 1880 to 1885
name: label: Collector
content: William W. Rockhill
label: Donor Name
content: William W. Rockhill
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Cloth quilted with yak hair. Eastern Tibet, obtained 1880-1885. Sheep wool, yak-hide fastening strips, organic and aniline dyes. This rug was used over a horse or a yak saddle for riding. Acquired by W.W. Rockhill, the American diplomat and Orientalist scholar. This saddle rug is probably the oldest Tibetan rug of documented age in any collection. Nevertheless, the unique Tibetan rug knotting technique and a well-developed, distinctly Tibetan set of rug design patterns belie a much older tradition. Aniline dyes had been imported from India since at least the 1870's. Loaned to Renwick 6-7-1984, returned 10-31-1984. Loaned to the Textile Museum 10-31-1984, returned 4-11-1985." From late 19th or early 20th century exhibit label with card: "Saddle rug. - Central portion a fine piled rug, mounted in red flannel. Length, 40 inches; width, 28 inches. Shigatse, Tibet. Collected by W. W. Rockhill." Information added to this label in 1974: "Saddle rug (Marten) - used under the saddle. -TD, 12/74." From information from a publication filed with card: "Information from: Myers, Diana K.. Temple, Household, Horseback: Rugs of the Tibetan Plateau. Washington, D.C. 1984. [From] page 57: Collected by the explorer W.W. Rockhill in the mid-1880s and probably made shortly before, this is the earliest datable Tibetan rug (see p. 36). Its pattern, colors, and structure are characteristic of rugs from Tsang, the south central region of Tibet, where it was said to have been made (in Shigatse). Two straps on the reverse indicate the rug was placed on top of a saddle. Rectangular mats such as this were riding accessories for use both with horses and with yaks. The medallion shows trefoil (cloudhead) elements within a stepped outline associated with the guls of Turkestan and Middle Eastern carpets. The trenchant meander border is lined with an inner row of pearls. Seen very often in Tibetan rugs, these two motifs appear also in architecture, around windows and along the ceilings of monasteries. Madder and indigo probably produced the red and blues, and rhubarb root the gold. The yellow and green in the medallioin may be examples of synthetic colors in use at the time, but without laboratory analysis, their dyestuffs cannot be positively identified. the knot count of 338/sq. decimeter (26/sq. in.) is a relatively low one, believed to be characteristic of village production in the nineteenth century. [From] page 100: The structure of the rugs described below is as follows unless otherwise noted: Warp: undyed white and/or brown wool; 2 Z-yarns, S-plied. Weft: undyed white and/or brown wool; 2 Z-yarns, unplied. Pile: wool; cut Senneh loop ("Tibetan knot"); smooth finish (no apparent countouring). Finish: selvages made from weft; cloth edgings noted. ... Cotton and wool yarns are Z-spun and S-plied unless noted. ... Rockhill Rug # 167206: Pile: 3-ply; some gold and white are very fine 4-ply; height 8 mm (.31 in.). Knots [count taken in plain area of field]: 26 knots x 13 rows = 338 knots per square decimeter (6.5 x 4 = 26 per square inch). Colors: 9; dark/medium/light blues, brown, white, rusty red, green, gold, yellow; occasional brown/blue plied together. Finish: red woolen fabric; blue cotton piping. Backing: white cotton sacking, sewn with fine woolen thread."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 7 Sep 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Shigatse (Xigazê), Tibet, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tibetan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 027007
label: USNM Number
content: E167206-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Rug
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 102 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 71 cm