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A New Visual Language Transmitted Across Asia

A number of motifs that were part of the existing artistic repertoire were adopted as imperial symbols of power and dominance.
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Tile with Image of Phoenix, Stonepaste; modeled, underglaze painted in blue and turquoise, luster-painted on opaque white ground
late 13th century
Textile with Coiled Dragons, Plain-weave silk brocaded with metallic thread, China
China
Panel with Phoenixes and Flowers, Silk and metallic thread embroidery on silk gauze, China
China
14th century
Bowl with Fish Motifs, Stonepaste; molded and glazed
first half 14th century
Footed Cup, Brass; cast, engraved, and inlaid with black compound
second half 14th century
Vajrabhairava mandala, Silk tapestry (kesi), China
China
ca. 1330–32

In the creation of luxury textiles and objects for the Mongol elite, Chinese artists developed a visual language that was an effective means of establishing their rule and consolidating their presence throughout the vast empire (vase, Inner Mongolia Museum, Hohhot). A number of motifs that were part of the existing artistic repertoire were adopted as imperial symbols of power and dominance—the dragon and the phoenix, for example, two mythical beasts that integrated the ideas of cosmic force, earthly strength, superior wisdom, and eternal life (The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962.154). The Mongol versions of the creatures are a highly decorative sinuous dragon with legs, horns, and beard and a large bird with a spectacular feathered tail floating in the air (). In Iran, these motifs were often paired and became so popular with the Ilkhanids that they eventually lost their original meaning, becoming part of the common artistic repertoire in the first half of the fourteenth century.

Other motifs of this period that were familiar throughout the Asian continent are the peony, the lotus flower (), and the lyrical image of the recumbent deer, or djeiran, gazing at the moon. The flowers, often seen in combination and viewed from both the side and top, provided ideal patterns for textiles and for filling dense backgrounds on all kinds of portable objects. The djeiran became widespread in the decorative arts because of the well-established association of similar quadrupeds with hunting scenes.

For the semi-nomadic Mongols, portable textiles and clothing were the best means of demonstrating their acquired wealth and power, so it is reasonable to assume that the main mode of transmission of motifs such as the dragon and peony was through luxury textiles. The most prominent clothing accessories were belts of precious metal (gold belt plaques, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art). Many of the textiles illustrated here prove transmission from east to west, yet in some instances, exemplified by a Chinese silk with addorsed griffins (The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1989.50), the origin of the image is clearly Central or western Asia. The Mongol period is unique in art history because it permitted the cross-fertilization of artistic motifs via the movement of craftsmen and artists throughout a politically unified continent.


Contributors

Stefano Carboni
Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Qamar Adamjee
Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2003


Further Reading

Carboni, Stefano, and Komaroff, Linda, eds. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256–1353. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. See on MetPublications

Crowe, Yolande "Late-Thirteenth-Century Persian Tilework and Chinese Textiles." Bulletin of the Asia Institute, n.s. 5 (1991), pp. 153–61.

Soucek, Priscilla "Ceramic Production as Exemplar of Yuan-Ilkhanid Relations." Res, no. 35 (Spring 1999), pp. 125–41.

Watt, James C. Y., and Anne E. Wardwell. When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. See on MetPublications


Citation

View Citations

Carboni, Stefano, and Qamar Adamjee. “A New Visual Language Transmitted Across Asia.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/khan4/hd_khan4.htm (October 2003)