This embroidery of birds worked over a patterned silk ground is one of the largest to have survived from the Tang dynasty of China. The birds are arranged in horizontal rows of single and, alternately, paired birds. With one exception (the single bird at the top edge to the right of the central pair), they face away from a central pair flanking a tulip-like flower on a hill. The textile's original function is not known. At the height of the Tang period, China controlled Central Asia as far west as the eastern borders of Sogdiana, an ancient confederation of states situated between the Oxus (today Syr Darya) and Jaxartes (today Amu Darya) Rivers. Goods, including textiles, moved freely along the trade routes connecting China with the Byzantine and Persian empires. In this way, Persian motifs reached Central Asia and China where they were absorbed into the decorative repertory. Here the forms of the single and paired birds and of the mountain and flower in the central embroidered motif can be traced back to Persian sources. The superimposition of an embroidered design over a patterned ground was very much in keeping with Tang taste. Traces of the outlines of the birds initially drawn onto the ground fabric can still be seen. Slight discrepancies between the birds indicate that they were drawn by hand and not stamped. Typical of Tang embroideries are the shades of purple, tan, green, blue, and cream of the birds, the hill, and the flower. Likewise, the embroidery consists mostly of satin stitch with juxtaposed blocks of color and no shading; outline stitch is used for occasional details. The design of the ground fabric--a diamond grid enclosing stylized rosettes--was a standard textile pattern used during the Tang. Woven on a shaft loom, the pattern was created by short warp and weft floats. The naturalistic, spontaneous style of the birds and flower indicates that the embroidery dates from the eighth to ninth century. A.W.
cxd
This embroidery of birds worked over a patterned silk ground is one of the largest to have survived from the Tang dynasty of China. The birds are arranged in horizontal rows of single and, alternately, paired birds. With one exception (the single bird at the top edge to the right of the central pair), they face away from a central pair flanking a tulip-like flower on a hill. The textile's original function is not known. At the height of the Tang period, China controlled Central Asia as far west as the eastern borders of Sogdiana, an ancient confederation of states situated between the Oxus (today Syr Darya) and Jaxartes (today Amu Darya) Rivers. Goods, including textiles, moved freely along the trade routes connecting China with the Byzantine and Persian empires. In this way, Persian motifs reached Central Asia and China where they were absorbed into the decorative repertory. Here the forms of the single and paired birds and of the mountain and flower in the central embroidered motif can be traced back to Persian sources. The superimposition of an embroidered design over a patterned ground was very much in keeping with Tang taste. Traces of the outlines of the birds initially drawn onto the ground fabric can still be seen. Slight discrepancies between the birds indicate that they were drawn by hand and not stamped. Typical of Tang embroideries are the shades of purple, tan, green, blue, and cream of the birds, the hill, and the flower. Likewise, the embroidery consists mostly of satin stitch with juxtaposed blocks of color and no shading; outline stitch is used for occasional details. The design of the ground fabric--a diamond grid enclosing stylized rosettes--was a standard textile pattern used during the Tang. Woven on a shaft loom, the pattern was created by short warp and weft floats. The naturalistic, spontaneous style of the birds and flower indicates that the embroidery dates from the eighth to ninth century. A.W.
Context
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