SACRED & SECULAR: The Piccus Collection Of Tibetan Rugs by Robert P. PiccusRugs have been woven and used in Tibet for centuries, but until recent years, have been ignored by collectors and scholars alike because available examples were generally brightly colored, chemically dyed, clearly modern commercial production of little aesthetic appeal. This situation changed in the mid 1980s when the Chinese authorities began to allow tourism and foreign visitors discovered early, naturally dyed examples that had not been seen in the