Resource Spotlight | “When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles” by James C. Y. Watt & Anne E. Wardwell with an essay by Morris Rossabi

 

宋 緙絲花鳥紋包首
Scroll Cover with Birds and Flowers
Song dynasty (960–1279)
12th century
China
Silk and metallic thread tapestry (kesi)
Purchase, Bequest of Dorothy Graham Bennett, 1966
66.174b
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 
 
 

When Silk Was Gold

Central Asian and Chinese Textiles

 
 

by James C. Y. Watt & Anne E. Wardwell
with an essay by Morris Rossabi

 
 

This resource is generously provided by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

 

The Deity Vajrabhairava, Tantric Form of the Bodhisattva Manjushri
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Early 15th century
China
Embroidery in silk, metallic thread, and horsehair on silk satin
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1993
1993.15
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

元 團鳳紋繡片
Panel with Phoenixes and Flowers
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
14th century
China
Silk and metallic thread embroidery on silk gauze
Purchase, Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Gift, Louis V. Bell and Rogers Funds, and Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust Gift, in honor of Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg, 1988
1988.82
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

元 緙絲大威德金剛曼陀羅
Vajrabhairava mandala
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
ca. 1330–32
China
Silk tapestry (kesi)
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1992
1992.54
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Panel with Peonies and Butterfly
Yuan (1271–1368) or Ming (1368–1644) dynasty
Late 14th–15th century
China
Needleloop embroidery of silk, gold paper, and gold thread on silk satin damask
Purchase, Joseph E. Hotung Gift, 1987
1987.277
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

元 緙絲 須彌山曼陀羅
Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
14th century
China
Silk tapestry (kesi)
Purchase, Fletcher Fund and Joseph E. Hotung and Michael and Danielle Rosenberg Gifts, 1989
1989.140
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

宋 緙絲花鳥紋包首
Scroll Cover with Birds and Flowers
Song dynasty (960–1279)
12th century
China
Silk and metallic thread tapestry (kesi)
Purchase, Bequest of Dorothy Graham Bennett, 1966
66.174b
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

元 緙絲大威德金剛曼陀羅
Detail of Vajrabhairava mandala
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
ca. 1330–32
China
Silk tapestry (kesi)
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1992
1992.54
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

中亞或華北（十三世紀） 蓮池水禽紋緙絲
Textile with Aquatic Birds and Recumbent Animal
13th century
Eastern Central Asia or North China
Silk tapestry (kesi)
Purchase, Gifts in memory of Christopher C.Y. Chen, Gifts from various donors, in honor of Douglas Dillon, Barbara and William Karatz Gift, and Eileen W. Bamberger Bequest, in memory of her husband, Max Bamberger, 1997
1997.7
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tapestry with golden lions and palmettes, 1200s or earlier. Central Asia. Silk, gold thread; tapestry weave; overall: 63.5 x 34.7 cm (25 x 13 11/16 in.); mounted: 73.7 x 45.7 cm (29 x 18 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1991.3

Dragons Chasing Flaming Pearls, 1200s or earlier. Central China, 13th century or earlier. Tapestry, silk and gold thread; overall: 60 x 32 cm (23 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1988.33

宋 緙絲飛鳥走獸紋包首
Scroll Cover with Animals, Birds, and Flowers
Song dynasty (960–1279)
11th–12th century
China
Silk tapestry (kesi)
Gift of John M. Crawford Jr., 1983
1983.105
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kesi Panel with Tiger and Birds on Floral Ground
10th–12th century
Eastern China
Silk, parchment-gold wrapped silk
Purchase, Joseph E. Hotung Gift, 1987
1987.276
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

唐 刺繡對鳥紋綢
Textile with confronted birds
Tang dynasty (618–907)
Early 8th century
China
Silk embroidery on plain-weave silk
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1996
1996.103.2
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Celestial Musician, 1300s. Central Asia, 14th century. Embroidery; silk and gold thread over two layers of cotton; overall: 66.5 x 45 cm (26 3/16 x 17 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1987.145

Tigers Chasing Deer, with Dragon, 1000s-1200. China, Eastern, 11th-12th century. Tapestry, silk and gold thread; overall: 58 x 27.2 cm (22 13/16 x 10 11/16 in.); mounted: 75.6 x 43.8 cm (29 3/4 x 17 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1988.100

Cloth of gold with winged lions and griffins, 1225-75. Central Asia. Silk and gold thread: lampas; overall: 124 x 48.8 cm (48 13/16 x 19 3/16 in.); mounted: 135.6 x 59.4 cm (53 3/8 x 23 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1989.50

金 綠地獵鵝紋織金絹
Textile with Swan Hunt
Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
12th–13th century
China
Plain-weave silk brocaded with gold-leaf wrapped leather strips
Purchase, Ann Eden Woodward Foundation Gift and Rogers Fund, 1989
1989.282
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Colophon

Author | James C. Y. Watt, Anne E. Wardwell, Morris Rossabi
Publisher | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Date of Publication | 1997

News 10Editorial TeamArt of the Ancestors, Steven G. Alpert, Asian Art, Island Southeast Asian Art, Oceanic Art, Asiatica, Ethnographica, Ethnographic Art, Art Collection, Fine Art, Primitive Art, Indonesian Art, Tribal Art, Eyes of the Ancestors, Dr. Reimar Schefold