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Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com . Creator Nationality: Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese Creator Dates/Places: China Creator Active Place: China Creator Name-CRT: China, Tang dynasty (618-907), 8th - 9th century Title: Embroidery with Birds Title Type: Primary View: Full View Creation Start Date: 700 Creation End Date: 899 Creation Date: 700s - 800s Object Type: Textiles Classification Term: Embroidery Materials and Techniques: embroidery, silk thread on silk ground Dimensions: Overall: 157.5cm x 25.7cm AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA ID Number: 1994.96 Credit Line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html Context: 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. AMICA ID: CMA_.1994.96 AMICA Library Year: 1998 Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder. Home
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