Antique Tiger Design Khotan Carpet From East Turkestan 47184
This eye-catching antique Khotan rug from East Turkestan is rich with culturally significant designs – especially the abstract tiger that dominates the field.
Antique Khotan Rug, East Turkestan, Turn of the Twentieth Century – Antique Khotan rugs from East Turkestan are characterized by a marriage between traditional, tribal elements of design with more cosmopolitan ideas about aesthetics. This mesmerizing antique rug with an animal pelt design of a tiger is a brilliant example of this phenomenon, boasting a series of abstract, culturally significant symbols throughout, offset by a carefully considered minimalism and definite structure. Dominating the wide open, pale gold field of this beautiful Khotan rug is the figure of a mighty tiger, sprawled wide for all to see. Consisting of a beautifully detailed body and tail of impressionistic tiger stripes as well as a minimalist, whiskered head, this image is as apparently tribal and significant as it is skillfully executed. The abstract swirls that dance around the negative space between the tiger’s limbs unify the field with the border, which is similarly decorated with swirls of blues and pale yellows.
