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Scroll Cover with Animals, Birds, and Flowers

11th–12th century
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 宋 緙絲飛鳥走獸紋包首
  • Title: Scroll Cover with Animals, Birds, and Flowers
  • Period: Song dynasty (960–1279)
  • Date: 11th–12th century
  • Culture: China
  • Medium: Silk tapestry (kesi)
  • Dimensions: Overall: 14 1/4 x 12 1/2in. (36.2 x 31.8cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Tapestries
  • Credit Line: Gift of John M. Crawford Jr., 1983
  • Object Number: 1983.105
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Old Trees, Level Distance, Guo Xi Chinese, Handscroll; ink and color on silk, China
Old Trees, Level Distance
Guo Xi
ca. 1080
Vajrabhairava mandala, Silk tapestry (kesi), China
Vajrabhairava mandala
China
ca. 1330–32
Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru, Silk tapestry (kesi), China
Cosmological Mandala with Mount Meru
China
14th century
Emperor Xuanzong's Flight to Shu, Unidentified artist Chinese, active mid-12th century, Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold on silk, China
Emperor Xuanzong's Flight to Shu
Unidentified artist
mid-12th century
Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, Ni Zan Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China
Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu
Ni Zan
dated 1372

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