The Stein Collection
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- Place of origin:
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- Materials and Techniques:
- Credit Line:
Stein Textile Loan Collection. On loan from the Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India. Copyright: Government of India.
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- Image in copyright
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.
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.
Place of Origin
Hami, China (excavated)
Date
700-800 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Pattern woven silk
Dimensions
Length: 19.7 cm, Width: 5 cm
Object history note
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 note
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.
Descriptive line
Polychrome pattern woven silk
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Wilson, Verity. 'Early Textiles from Central Asia: Approaches to Study with reference to the Stein Loan Collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London', Textile History 26 (1) . Devon: David & Charles/Pasold Research Fund Ltd, 1995, pp.23-52.
Stein, Aurel, Serindia: Detailed Report of Exploration in Central Asia and Westernmost China Carried Out and Described Under the Orders of H.M Indian Government , 5 vols (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1921), vol. III, p. 1171; vol. IV, pl. CXII.
Associated names
Stein, Marc Aurel (Sir)
Materials
Silk
Techniques
Stitching; Patterned weave
Subjects depicted
Floral patterns
Categories
Archaeology; Textiles
Collection code
EAS
