Period:Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
Date:late 13th–14th century
Culture:China
Medium:Silk and gold thread lampas
Dimensions:Overall: 8 x 12 in. (20.3 x 30.5 cm)
Classification:Textiles
Credit Line:Gift of George Hecksher, 2012
Accession Number:2012.399
This fragment provides a rare example of the famed “ cloth of gold ” produced in China and Central Asia in the thirteenth and fourteenth century under the rule of the Yuan Mongol dynasty (1271 – 1368). It is woven with red silk threads that have been supplemented by gold threads, and shows a row of two floral roundels that contain sinuous dragons chasing a pearl, and an upper row of three partial flowers roundels that contain phoenixes. The roundels have been woven in horizontal rows and are set against a background of tiny gold hexagons.