Pillow
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This pillow was unearthed from a site of the Jingjue state, which once existed at the northwest frontier of China. The fabric illustrates the highly sophisticated technique of five-color woven silk. Although the weave perpetuates an earlier Western Han tradition, the incorporation of more than two or three colors represents an advancement. Also exceptional are the characters interwoven among the stylized clouds. Though fragmentary here, the full inscription reads, “may a marriage between nobles prosper for a thousand autumns and ten thousand years and benefit sons and grandsons”.
Artwork Details
- 东汉 “王侯合婚千秋万岁宜子孙”铭锦枕
- Title: Pillow
- Period: Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)
- Culture: China
- Medium: Woven silk jin (warp-faced compound plain weave)
- Dimensions: incl. tassels at corners: 7 1/2 × 13 3/8 × 1 in. (19 × 34 × 2.5 cm)
without tassels: 6 11/16 × 11 13/16 in. (17 × 30 cm) - Classification: Textiles
- Credit Line: Lent by Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art