Scroll Cover with Animals, Birds, and Flowers

China

Not on view

A classic example of Song tapestry, this elegant scroll cover resembles a famous uncut piece (now in Liaoning Provincial Museum, China). This tapestry entered the Museum’s collection as the handscroll cover for the masterpiece Old Trees, Level Distance by Guo Xi (ca. 1020–ca. 1090). The placement of the animals in the pattern illustrates a strong connection with tapestries from Central Asia, which may have served as the source for the introduction of the tapestry technique to China.

Scroll Cover with Animals, Birds, and Flowers, Silk tapestry (kesi), China

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