Lot 146
  • 146

A silk samite fragment, probably Sogdian,

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Description

  • A silk samite fragment
  • approximately 16in. by 10in. (41 by 25cm.)

Provenance

Arthur Leeper

Catalogue Note

This lot and the previous two (lots 144 and 145) are rare textile fragments featuring roundels that have been found along the silk route.  The roundel was a pattern that was particularly popular from the Sui to Tang dynasties (6th to 9th centuries.)  It is highly likely that these textiles are from Zandane, near Bokhara in Sogdiana, as this was a center for silk production.  The Sogdians traded extensively along the Silk Road and examples of their silks have been found in both the northwestern Caucasus and in sites in northwest China, such as Astana and Dulan.   All three of these fragments feature a  repeating design of roundels which enclose various animals and birds.   The roundels here enclose pairs of  ornate birds, similar to those in a drawing that is published as fig. 4a, Feng, Zhao, "Silk Roundels from the Sui to the Tang," Hali, issue 92, pp. 80-85.  For further discussion of this group of textiles, please refer to Feng, ibid.