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Lot Essay
The design of this panel has very considerable and obvious similarities with that of an Eastern Central Asian embroidered silk panel in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (Textiles in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995, originally published as The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Winter 1995/6, p.73; also in James C.Y.Watt and Anne C. Wardwell, When Silk was Gold, Central Asian and Chinese Textiles, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1997, no.50, pp.172-175). The birds in particular are very similar indeed in form and in the way that they fly. As in the New York example however there are two different forms of birds shown, possibly intended as the male and female of the species. The crested 'male' is very similar in both, but the 'female' has very different tail feathers here, formed of linked heart-motifs that are in stark contrast to the tapering tail feathers of the New York example. As with the technique noted below, the New York tail feathers are closer to those of the Chinese original bird, as demonstrated in the catalogue entry. Here the succession of heart-motifs recalls a frequently encountered Sasanian border design which transferred into the Sogdian repertoire.
There are also certain very clear technical differences which show these this and the New York textiles to have a slightly different aesthetic. Most noticeable is the colouring of the various elements. Here the flowers are each formed with bright contrasting colours juxtaposed one to the other. The New York embroidery in contrast gradually shades the colours on the larger blossoms one into the other. This is partly achieved by the choice of colours, but also by the stitching; in the New York textile the stitches are often worked so that they run longitudinally into the change of colour, enabling a blurring of the line, while here there is no attempt to overlap different colours even when it would have been technically possible. This shading of colour and attempt at greater naturalism is a feature of Chinese embroideries, not generally found in those from the Islamic tradition (Watt and Wardwell, op. cit, no.60, pp.196-199).
Another difference between this weaving and that in New York is the use of couched metal thread to form the tendrils that link the whole design. This is a feature that is found on a number of Yuan embroideries, and indicates a textile of particularly opulent type. A similar use of gold thread, albeit doubled to form thicker tendrils, is found on an early Ming embroidered thangka in the Cleveland Museum of Art that has been dated to between 1368 and 1424 (Watt and Wardwell, op.cit, no.63, pp./207-209).
A Carbon 14 analysis, performed by the Rafter Laboratory in New Zealand, sample 32465/1 on 7 July 2010 gives the following results, consistent with the proposed dating for this lot:
68 confidence level: 1294 AD to 1306 AD (23.6 plus 1364 AD to 1385 AD (43.8
95 confidence level: 1288 AD to 1316 AD (38.4 plus 1355 AD to 1389 AD (56.3
There are also certain very clear technical differences which show these this and the New York textiles to have a slightly different aesthetic. Most noticeable is the colouring of the various elements. Here the flowers are each formed with bright contrasting colours juxtaposed one to the other. The New York embroidery in contrast gradually shades the colours on the larger blossoms one into the other. This is partly achieved by the choice of colours, but also by the stitching; in the New York textile the stitches are often worked so that they run longitudinally into the change of colour, enabling a blurring of the line, while here there is no attempt to overlap different colours even when it would have been technically possible. This shading of colour and attempt at greater naturalism is a feature of Chinese embroideries, not generally found in those from the Islamic tradition (Watt and Wardwell, op. cit, no.60, pp.196-199).
Another difference between this weaving and that in New York is the use of couched metal thread to form the tendrils that link the whole design. This is a feature that is found on a number of Yuan embroideries, and indicates a textile of particularly opulent type. A similar use of gold thread, albeit doubled to form thicker tendrils, is found on an early Ming embroidered thangka in the Cleveland Museum of Art that has been dated to between 1368 and 1424 (Watt and Wardwell, op.cit, no.63, pp./207-209).
A Carbon 14 analysis, performed by the Rafter Laboratory in New Zealand, sample 32465/1 on 7 July 2010 gives the following results, consistent with the proposed dating for this lot:
68 confidence level: 1294 AD to 1306 AD (23.6 plus 1364 AD to 1385 AD (43.8
95 confidence level: 1288 AD to 1316 AD (38.4 plus 1355 AD to 1389 AD (56.3