Tibetan saddle cover

Saddle cover

from Tibet

early 20th century

122 x 57 cm

This is the larger bottom piece of an ‘butterfly’ shaped set of rugs which went with the wooden saddle. Usually a felt would separate the bottom double rug from the horse and the smaller top rug would sit between saddle and rider. This larger bottom piece was invariably woven in two pieces and later joined with a strip of cloth in the middle. In this case the cloth is missing. Old natural dyes have been used in contrast to many garish more modern Tibetan or Nepalese saddle rugs and of particular note is the beautiful green yellow tone of the centre panel.