The Stein Collection
Fragment
700-800 (made)
700-800 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This pattern woven floral cream silk was recovered from the site of Hami, which dates from the 8th century AD.
The site is also part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road, a series of overland trade routes that crossed Asia from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk. Camels and horses were used as pack animals and merchants passed the goods from oasis to oasis. The Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. Whilst silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way.
This textile was brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943). The V&A has around 650 ancient and medieval textiles recovered from the Silk Road by Stein at the beginning of the 20th century. Some are silk while others are made from the wool of a variety of different animals.
The site is also part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road, a series of overland trade routes that crossed Asia from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk. Camels and horses were used as pack animals and merchants passed the goods from oasis to oasis. The Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. Whilst silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way.
This textile was brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943). The V&A has around 650 ancient and medieval textiles recovered from the Silk Road by Stein at the beginning of the 20th century. Some are silk while others are made from the wool of a variety of different animals.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Stein Collection (named collection) |
| Materials and techniques | Pattern woven silk |
| Brief description | Polychrome pattern woven silk |
| Physical description | Rectangular polychrome patterned weave made of cream silk showing floral design in blue, brown, red and yellow. Remnants of stitching and one selvedge intact. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Stein Textile Loan Collection. On loan from the Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India. Copyright: Government of India. |
| Object history | Related to the fragment is a paper tag showing Stein number possibly in Stein's handwriting or that of his assistant, Miss F M G Lorimer. |
| Historical context | Hami lies on a northern branch of the Silk Road, between Turfan and Dunhuang. The Chinese first occupied Hami in 73 AD, making it a base for their expansion westward into Central Asia and north across the Tian Shan Mountains. A military colony was established to cultivate the surrounding lands for Hami played a crucial role in China's defence against northern invaders, including the Xiongnu, Turks and Mongols. The city became an oasis for traders crossing the Pei Shan Desert. The V&A holds, on loan, from Hami, a woven cream silk with floral pattern, which dates from the eighth century AD. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This pattern woven floral cream silk was recovered from the site of Hami, which dates from the 8th century AD. The site is also part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road, a series of overland trade routes that crossed Asia from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk. Camels and horses were used as pack animals and merchants passed the goods from oasis to oasis. The Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. Whilst silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way. This textile was brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943). The V&A has around 650 ancient and medieval textiles recovered from the Silk Road by Stein at the beginning of the 20th century. Some are silk while others are made from the wool of a variety of different animals. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | H.A.i.0031 - Stein number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:STEIN.673 |
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| Record created | November 13, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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