14 février 2024
Textile with dragons and phoenixes, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), late 13th–14th century
Textile with dragons and phoenixes, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), late 13th–14th century. Silk and gold thread lampas, 20.3 x 30.5 cm. Gift of George Hecksher, 2012, 2012.399. © 2000–2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This fragment is a rare example of cloth of gold—a textile of silk woven with gold thread—that was produced in China and Central Asia under the Mongol Yuan dynasty. The two lower roundels each feature a robust dragon chasing a flaming pearl; an upper row of three depicts phoenixes, now mostly lost. All are set against a ground of tiny gold hexagons.
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