Textiles from the Silk Road: MMA

Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

8th century

Geography:

Egypt or Syria

Medium:

Silk; samite

Dimensions:

Textile: H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm) W. 11 in. (28 cm) Mount: H. 12 in. (30.5 cm) W. 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm) D. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Mrs. Hayford Peirce, 1987

Accession Number:

1987.440.1

Provenance

[ Giorgio Sangiorgi, Rome, by 1906–34; sold to Peirce]; Mrs. Hayford Peirce, San Diego, CA (1934–87)

• Provenance

  [ Schultze, until 1907; sold to MMA]

Textile Fragment with Hunting Scene

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

8th century

Geography:

Egypt or Syria

Medium:

Silk; samite

Dimensions:

Textile: H. 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm) W. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm) Mount: H. 13 3/4 in. (34.9 cm) W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1951

Accession Number:

51.57

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: Above the heads of the figures is an inscription in kufic (bismallah).

Textile fragment with ducks in roundel

Period:

early Islamic

Date:

ca. 8th–9th century A.D.

Geography:

Central Asia or Caucasus region

Culture:

Islamic

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

H. 6.3 in. (17.1 cm); W. 8 in. (20.3 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999

Accession Number:

1999.325.230

Textile fragment with ducks in roundels

Period:

early Islamic

Date:

ca. 8th–9th century A.D.

Geography:

Central Asia or Caucasus region

Culture:

Islamic

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

H. 8 in. (20.3 cm); W. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in memory of Charles Dikran and Beatrice Kelekian, 1999

Accession Number:

1999.325.229

Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

8th–9th century

Geography:

Egypt or Syria

Medium:

Silk; samite

Dimensions:

Textile: H. 6 1/8 in. (15.5 cm) W.7 5/16 in. (18.5 cm) Mount: H. 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm) W. 10 3/4 in. (27.3 cm) D. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1917

Accession Number:

17.22.1

Provenance

[ Dikran G. Kelekian, New York, until 1917; sold to MMA]

Medallion from a Tunic

Object Name:

Medallion

Date:

6th–7th century

Geography:

Syria

Medium:

Silk; samite (weft-faced compound twill)

Dimensions:

Textile: H. 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm) W. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm) Mount: H. 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm) W. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm) D. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1927

Accession Number:

27.58.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 451

Provenance

Textile with Pearl Roundels with Dragons

Date:

late 8th–9th century

Culture:

China or Central Asia

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

Max height (warp): 18 1/8in. (46cm) Max width (weft): 24 7/16in. (62.1cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, Barbara and William Karatz Gift, 1998

Accession Number:

1998.147

Textile with Floral Medallion

Period:

Tang dynasty (618–907)

Date:

late 8th–early 9th century

Culture:

China

Medium:

Woven silk: weft-faced compound twill

Dimensions:

Overall: 24 x 28 in. (61 x 71.1 cm) Mount (with plexi cover): 28 3/4 x 32 1/2 in. (73 x 82.6 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1996

Accession Number:

1996.103.1

Description

An arrangement of floral medallions interspersed with quatrefoil motifs was one of the dominant textile patterns of the High Tang period (roughly the first half of the eighth century). A textile with a similar large floral medallion has been preserved as part of the Shôsô-in collection from the mid-eighth-century imperial repository in Nara, Japan. However, an aspect of this work's weave structure-namely, that it is bound in weft-faced twill on both the face and the reverse-is more commonly seen in textiles of the tenth century and later.

Leggings

Date:

ca. 8th century A.D.

Geography:

Caucasus region

Medium:

Silk, linen

Dimensions:

31.5 in. (80.01 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Costumes

Credit Line:

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1996

Accession Number:

1996.78.2a, b

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 405

Provenance

Caftan

Date:

ca. 8th century A.D.

Geography:

Caucasus region

Medium:

Silk, linen, fur

Dimensions:

L. 56 in. (142. 2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Costumes

Credit Line:

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1996

Accession Number:

1996.78.1

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 405

The original linen coat (caftan), preserved in part from the neck to the bottom of the hem, is made of finely woven linen. A decorative strip of large-patterned silk is sewn along the exterior and interior edges of the caftan. A minute fragment of lambskin preserved as the caftan's interior attests to its fur lining. The woven patterns on the silk borders of the caftan include motifs such as the rosettes and stylized animal patterns enclosed within beaded roundels, which were widespread in Iranian and Central Asian textiles of the sixth to ninth century. The colors used in the textile include a now-faded dark blue, yellow, red, and white on a dark brown ground. The decorated silk fabrics are a compound twill weave (samite in modern classification) and the body of the garment is plain-weave linen. Two slits running up the back of the caftan make it particularly suitable as a riding costume.

Textile fragment

Period:

Sasanian

Date:

ca. 6th–7th century A.D.

Geography:

Iran

Culture:

Sasanian

Medium:

Silk, samit

Dimensions:

1 x 2 in. (2.5 x 5.1 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Ronald Antonioli and Guitty Azarpay, 2000

Accession Number:

2000.624.4

Textile fragment

Period:

Sasanian

Date:

ca. 6th–7th century A.D.

Geography:

Iran

Culture:

Sasanian

Medium:

Silk, samit

Dimensions:

2.75 x 4.75 in. (7 x 12.1 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Ronald Antonioli and Guitty Azarpay, 2000

Accession Number:

2000.624.3

Purse

Period:

Tang dynasty (618–907)

Date:

8th–9th century

Culture:

China

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

5 5/8 x 5 3/8 x 1 in. (14.3 x 13.7 x 2.5 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, Eileen W. Bamberger Bequest, in memory of her husband, Max Bamberger, 1996

Accession Number:

1996.39

Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

6th–7th century

Geography:

probably Syria

Medium:

Silk; samite (?)

Dimensions:

30 in. high 4.00 in. high (76.2 cm high cm high)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of George F. Baker, 1890

Accession Number:

90.5.17

Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

7th–8th century

Geography:

probably Iran

Medium:

Silk

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Fletcher Fund, 1946

Accession Number:

46.156.13

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 999

• Provenance

  [ Schultze, until 1907; sold to MMA]

Textile with Processions of Rams

Date:

7th–8th century

Culture:

Central Asia or Eastern Iran

Medium:

Silk samite (weft-faced compound twill)

Dimensions:

Before Conservation: Warp 19 7/8 in. (50.5 cm); Weft 15 9/16 in. (39.5 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2005

Accession Number:

2005.134

Textile fragment

Period:

Sasanian

Date:

ca. 6th–7th century A.D.

Geography:

Iran

Culture:

Sasanian

Medium:

Silk, tapestry weave

Dimensions:

21 x 6 in. (53.3 x 15.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Ronald Antonioli and Guitty Azarpay, 2000

Accession Number:

2000.624.1

Fragment

Date:

8th–9th century

Geography:

probably Iran

Medium:

Silk; samite

Dimensions:

Textile: H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm) W. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm) Mount: H. 11 7/8 (30.2 cm) W. 13 7/8 in. (35.2 cm) D. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles

Credit Line:

Fletcher Fund, 1946

Accession Number:

46.156.6

This silk textile fragment displays a repeating design executed in green, yellow, and tan against a dark blue ground. The design consists of joined rows of four-pointed stars, in between which are roundels bearing stylized floral and bird forms in alternating rows.

Roundel

Object Name:

Roundel

Date:

6th–7th century

Geography:

Iraq or Syria

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

H: 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) W: 5 in. (12.7 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of George D. Pratt, 1929

Accession Number:

29.144.2

Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

8th–9th century

Geography:

Iran

Medium:

Silk; woven

Dimensions:

H: 6 in. (15.2 cm) W: 5 1/2 in. (14 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1938

Accession Number:

38.147

Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

8th–9th century

Geography:

Iran

Medium:

Silk; tapestry-woven

Dimensions:

H: 7 3/4 in. (19.7 cm) W: 8 in. (20.3 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1941

Accession Number:

41.119

This artwork is not on display

Textile with Confronted Horned Animals in a Pearl Roundel

Date:

7th–9th century

Culture:

Sogdian (Central Asia)

Medium:

Woven silk: weft-faced compound twill (samite)

Dimensions:

Overall: 10 x 15 1/2 in. (25.4 x 39.4 cm) b.: 9 3/4 x 15 in. (24.8 x 38.1 cm) Mount (with plexi cover): 24 1/4 x 19 3/4 in. (61.6 x 50.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1996

Accession Number:

1996.1a, b

Description

This piece is a composite of two halves of a roundel from different parts of the same length of cloth. Together, they form slightly more than one pearl roundel containing confronted horned animals, probably bulls. The textile represents a type that was known to early Arab historians and geographers as Zandaniji. A complete loom piece of the type in Huy, Belgium, bears an inscription with the word Zandaniji written in the language of Sogdian merchants, who were the most important intermediaries in the silk trade during the Tang dynasty (618–907). The patterns of these silks derive from the arts of the late Sasanian period (224–637), but technical aspects set them apart from other textiles with similar patterns.

Textile, fragments

Object Name:

Textile, fragments

Date:

6th–7th century

Geography:

probably Egypt or Syria

Medium:

Silk

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Fletcher Fund, 1946

Accession Number:

46.156.18b, c

Shosoin fragment

Period:

Tang dynasty (618–907)

Culture:

China

Medium:

Silk compound twill

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Seymour Fund, 1965

Accession Number:

65.213.2

Twill damask with paired birds and floral pattern

Date:

late 8th–9th century

Culture:

China

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

Overall (warp) 27-9/16 x overall weft: 21-5/8 in. (70.0 x 54.9 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, Joseph Hotung, Brooke Astor, and Barbara and William Karatz Gifts, 1998

Accession Number:

1998.274

Textile Fragment with Confronted Deer in Partial Pearl Roundel with Serrated Outer Border

Date:

8th–9th century

Culture:

Eastern Iran or Sogdiana

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

13 3/8 x 17 5/16 in. (34 x 44 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, Rogers Fund, by exchange, 2006

Accession Number:

2006.472

Fragment

Period:

Nara period (710–794), Tempyô (729–749)

Date:

8th century

Culture:

Japan

Medium:

Silk / Brocaded

Dimensions:

100 x 100 in. (253.98 x 253.97 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1944

Accession Number:

44.48.11c

• Provenance

  Hayford Peirce (1883 - 1946)Collection (until 1946); Mrs. Hayford Peirce, San Diego (by descent; until 1987)

Guilloche Lattice with Pinecone (?)

Date:

7th–9th century

Geography:

Made in, Egypt

Culture:

Byzantine

Medium:

Weft-faced compound twill (samit) in red, black, and blue silk

Dimensions:

Overall: 7 7/8 x 6 5/8in. (20 x 16.9cm) Framed: 12 1/4 x 11 x 1 1/2 in. (31.1 x 27.9 x 3.8 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Gift of Nanette B. Kelekian, in honor of Nobuko Kajitani, 2002

Accession Number:

2002.239.27

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 999

Woven Tapestry Fragment

Object Name:

Fragment

Date:

mid-8th century

Geography:

Iran, Iraq, or Egypt

Medium:

Wool; tapestry weave

Dimensions:

Textile: L. 12 in. (30.5 cm) W. 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm) Mount: L. 23 13/16 in. (60.5 cm) W. 17 13/16 in. (45.2 cm) D. 7/8 in. (2.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles

Credit Line:

Rogers Fund, 1950

Accession Number:

50.83

The overall pattern on this tapestry-woven cloth, possibly a floor covering, with staggered rows of rosettes, resembles textiles depicted on the rock reliefs of the late sixth- to early seventh-century Sasanian monument at Taq-i Bustan. On the basis of inscriptions on two closely related textiles, this fragment has been dated to the reign of the Umayyad caliph Marwan II (r. 744–49).

Boar's Head Roundels

Date:

7th century

Culture:

Central Asia

Medium:

Silk split-stitch embroidery on plain-weave silk

Dimensions:

Warp 22 1/16 in. (56 cm); weft (selvedge to selvedge) 18 7/8 in. (48 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Embroidered

Credit Line:

Purchase, Sir Joseph Hotung Gift, 2004

Accession Number:

2004.260

• Although symmetry is a basic element of Chinese design, the motif of a pair of confronted animals or birds on either side of a plant was not known in China until the opening of the silk routes in the second century B.C. The pattern seen on this embroidery—birds standing on lotus blossoms (a motif derived from Buddhist art)—was popular in the early Tang period.

Embroidered Textile with Dragons and Lotuses

Period:

Tang dynasty (618–907)

Date:

7th–8th century

Culture:

China

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

8 11/16 x 13 3/8 in. (22 x 34 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Embroidered

Credit Line:

Purchase, The B. D. G. Leviton Foundation Gift, 2007

Accession Number:

2007.296a, b

Textile with Confronted Horses in Roundels

Date:

8th–9th century

Culture:

Central Asia

Medium:

Woven silk

Dimensions:

Before conservation: greatest height 15 15/16 in. (40.5 cm) x greatest width 19 1/8 in. (48.6 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 2006

Accession Number:

2006.173

Woven Textile with Male Bust in Pearl Roundel

Date:

7th–8th century

Culture:

Central Asia

Medium:

Silk

Dimensions:

Overall: H. 7 in. (17.8 cm); Warp 26 3/8 in. (67 cm); Weft 6 3/4 in. (17.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

Purchase, The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 2008

Accession Number:

2008.79

• Emil Brugsch-Bey(until 1890; sold to Baker); George F. Baker, New York (1890)

• Provenance

  Emil Brugsch-Bey(until 1890; sold to Baker); George F. Baker, New York (1890)

Woven Silk, with Addorsed Griffins in Roundels and Pseudo-Kufic Inscription

Date:

late 13th–early 14th century

Culture:

Central Asian, Sicilian, or North African

Medium:

Silk, silver-gilt metal on parchment over cotton

Dimensions:

69 1/4 x 38 1/4 in. (175.9 x 97.2 cm)

Classification:

Textiles-Woven

Credit Line:

The Cloisters Collection, 1984

Accession Number:

1984.344