IRAN, SECOND HALF 7TH OR 8TH CENTURY

A group of textile fragments in the Hecksher collection is woven with almost identical pairs of falcons with nimbuses dated to the late 8th or early 9th Century, (Feng Zhao, Treasures in Silk, Hong Kong, 1999, No. 03.09, pp. 118-19). The depiction of falcons is something that anchors this textile to Central Asia and the greater Iranian world, as Chinese motifs up until this point did not include birds of prey, (Feng Zhao, op.cit., p. 118). It is also interesting to note the relation between the pairs of falcons depicted on this textile and the later 12th Century development of Seljuk textiles containing confronted pairs of birds within roundels. For a further discussion on this group of textiles see Lots 64, 69 and 76.