Date:second half 16th century Culture:Chinese, Macao, for Iberian market Medium:Silk damask Dimensions:74 1/2 × 29 in. (189.2 × 73.7 cm) Classification:Textiles-Woven Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1940 Accession Number:40.27.2 A symbol of exoticism and power, the Asian elephant (identified by its small ears) shares the visual space of this finely patterned silk satin damask with a European double-headed crowned eagle beneath a stylized, oval-shaped lotus.¹ The elephant is shown with multiple tusks, three on one side and one peeking out on the other. As such, the animal seen here likely represents the Buddhist six-tusked elephant described in a fifth-century Chinese translation of a sutra as being resplendent and white and having lotuses, jade maidens, and other symbolic figures at the end of each tusk.²
Date:second half 16th century Culture:Chinese, Macao, for Iberian market Medium:Silk damask Dimensions:74 1/2 × 29 in. (189.2 × 73.7 cm) Classification:Textiles-Woven Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1940 Accession Number:40.27.2 A symbol of exoticism and power, the Asian elephant (identified by its small ears) shares the visual space of this finely patterned silk satin damask with a European double-headed crowned eagle beneath a stylized, oval-shaped lotus.¹ The elephant is shown with multiple tusks, three on one side and one peeking out on the other. As such, the animal seen here likely represents the Buddhist six-tusked elephant described in a fifth-century Chinese translation of a sutra as being resplendent and white and having lotuses, jade maidens, and other symbolic figures at the end of each tusk.²