Cleveland Museum of Art

Brocade with Soaring Phoenixes among Clouds

Date

1100s–1200s

Medium

Silk and gold thread; tabby, brocaded

Culture

China, Jin dynasty (1115-1234)

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The gold-brocaded designs of Jin brocades, such as this example with graceful phoenixes soaring into clouds, are typically asymmetrical. Moreover, they have no frame or border, and appear to have been cut out of larger decorative images. Textiles like this, which were probably exported from China to Iran, helped transmit the phoenix motif into Ilkhanid decorative arts.

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