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Textile Fragment with Lozenges

2nd century BC
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
In contrast to the multicolored embroideries found in the same tomb, this light fabric features subtler motifs in a more somber, coffee-colored palette. The motif—a large lozenge with two smaller lozenges on its shorter ends—is thought to be a stylized rendering of an erbei, or winged cup, the most popular shape of drinking cup of the period (see a lacquer example of one such cup in the adjacent gallery). It may correspond to the “cup pattern” (beiwen) mentioned in historical texts.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 西汉 烟色菱纹罗绮残片
  • Title: Textile Fragment with Lozenges
  • Period: Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE)
  • Date: 2nd century BC
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Silk complex gauze (luoqi)
  • Dimensions: 22 × 19 7/8 in. (55.9 × 50.5 cm)
    Framed: 27 3/8 × 24 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (69.5 × 62.2 × 3.8 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles
  • Credit Line: Lent by Hunan Provincial Museum
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art
Textile Fragment with Lozenges - China - Western Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art