Jabuye, Tibet, late 19th century, cm 77x60. This pillow rug (jabuye) is quite an interesting one, for its overall design is a merry riot of motifs. This relates to the fact that Tibetan Buddhists venerate a variety of auspicious or luck-bringing symbols, including those from the Taoist immortal spirits. Therefore, by placing as many as they could on a mat or rug, this one was intended to bring best of luck to owner. Just to mention a few i could recognize, here we have the vase (than contains spiritual jewels), two books with a ribbon (a conventional design of good fortunes), the fan (the symbol of Chung-li the chief of eight immortals, and with the fan he revived the souls of dead), the bamboo tube (symbolizing the telling of fortunes), lotus flowers (purity and perfection) and the seeded pomegranate (symbol of fertility across all Central Asia). In excellent condition this is a very nice example of weavings from the plateau.