CENTRAL ASIA, 13TH CENTURY

This and the following lot display one of the most luxurious innovations in early textile production, the so-called ‘Cloth of Gold’ (nasij). These dazzling textiles comprise gold thread with the design reserved against a salmon pink silk ground. Before the beginning of the Mongol invasions in the late twelfth century different weaving centres could be recognised, to a degree, by the specific characteristics of their products – be these technical or decorative. However, the Mongols forcibly relocated skilled weavers throughout the territories they conquered to manufacture ‘Cloth of Gold’ and this ushered in a new chapter in the history of textile production. Craftsmen from different backgrounds worked side-by-side and the result was a new fusion of techniques and motifs, particularly between the traditions of China, Iran and Central Asia (Jon Thompson, Silk. 13^th to 18^th centuries. Treasures from the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar, Doha, 2004, p. 12).

The place of production of these textiles can be deduced from the technical aspects of their weaving. Those produced in China use a paper substrate, while those from Central Asia use and animal substrate and wrap the gilt thread around silk. The following two lots are examples of the latter. Aside from the obvious aesthetic appeal, the popularity of ‘Cloth of Gold’ amongst the Mongols stems from the realities of nomadic society and the need for portable possessions. Therefore, it had long been the custom for nomads to wear their wealth. Jon Thompson writes that from the Scythian times in the third century BC, steppe nomads wore gold ornaments sewn on to their outer garments and that later it was discovered that weaving golden thread into the cloth itself achieved a similar effect (Jon Thompson, op. cit., pp. 72-73). In the Mongol period silk textiles possessed a value equivalent to currency and could serve for the payment of taxes, war indemnity or tribute (Linda Komaroff and Stefano Carboni, The Legacy of Genghis Khan. Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353, New York, 2003, p. 171).

In the thirteenth century the Persian historian Rashid al-Din described two remarkable tents of “cloth made of gold on gold”, which were presented as gifts to Hulegu Khan, the Mongol ruler, in 1255 and 1256 (James C.Y. Watt and Anne E. Wardell, When Silk was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles, 1997, p. 134). The incredible effect of such textiles is best illustrated by a magnificent surviving example of the interior of a Mongol tent, now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha.

This lot retains both selvages and displays a similar long, narrow format to the series of ten adjoined panels forming the tent interior in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha. It is likely that our panel was produced to be used in a similar interior where, when used in parallel with further panels, would have participated in a dazzling and large-scale repeating lattice, further enriched by the incredibly preserved gold-thread. Two further panels from the same textile are in the David Collection, Copenhagen (inv. nos. 4/1993 and 15/1989).