Looking for Tibetan Rugs

Tenzing and Fred in Kathmandu © Sharon Lundahl

One of the goals Fred and Sharon Lundahl wanted to achieve from their recent trip to Nepal and India was to find a reliable source of unusual Tibetan carpets. We’ve seen traditional Tibetan rugs, and have a few of them in our store, but wanted to combine the Tibetan look with something more modern for contemporary homes.

We had a lead from another Tibetan friend, telling us about the store, “Khaden Carpets”, based in Portland, Oregon.

See: http://www.khadencarpets.com/Info.htm

Looking at Carpets with Tenzing © Sharon Lundahl

We looked at their beautiful brochure and set up a contact in Kathmandu, Nepal, where the carpets are made.  We had the great good fortune to be picked up and shown around by the company’s young owner, Tenzing Jamyang.

Tenzing is one of the third-generation-in-exile Tibetans who have found their home in Nepal.

He has carpet-making in his family; they started out in 1962 as weavers, and Tenzing’s relatives were involved as small shopkeepers in the rug trade.  Eventually Tenzing ran a 400-person factory where the rugs were woven.  After recent political problems caused by the Maoist insurgency, Tenzing decentralized his business, and the women now mostly make the rugs in their homes.

Tenzing himself is an artist, which can be seen in the rugs he has designed.  We bought lots of them, including some interesting new rugs made of wool and hemp, with natural colors and designs.

Tibetan Carpet Weaver in Nepal

Even more exciting is that Tenzing has agreed to create some new rugs for us, using his traditional Tibetan influences, with his modern design aesthetic, and adding some of our own ideas for carpets that fit into our casual, informal, Whicbey-Island Washington State homes.

Sharon asked him to make some carpets with mountains and trees, and we are excited to see what Tenzing comes up with for Music for the Eyes.