The Stein Collection
Fragment
400-1000 (made)
400-1000 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This textile was brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943). It was recovered from the fort site of Mazartagh which dates from the 5th to the 11th century AD.
Mazartagh is part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road and it refers to 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 – while silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century. He made several expeditions to the chain of abandoned oasis settlements in the Silk Road region and each time brought back a wide variety of material. The textiles range in date from the second century BC to the twelfth century AD. Some are silk while others are made from the wool of a variety of different animals. Most of the pieces are fragmentary and it is not easy to see what they would originally have been used for. Occasionally, whole items survive such as shoes, purses and religious banners.
Mazartagh is part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road and it refers to 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 – while silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century. He made several expeditions to the chain of abandoned oasis settlements in the Silk Road region and each time brought back a wide variety of material. The textiles range in date from the second century BC to the twelfth century AD. Some are silk while others are made from the wool of a variety of different animals. Most of the pieces are fragmentary and it is not easy to see what they would originally have been used for. Occasionally, whole items survive such as shoes, purses and religious banners.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Stein Collection (named collection) |
| Materials and techniques | Plain woven cotton |
| Brief description | Plain woven cream coloured cotton. |
| Physical description | Rectangular piece of monochrome plain weave cream cotton. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Credit line | Stein Textile Loan Collection. On loan from the Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India. Copyright: Government of India. |
| Historical context | The fort of Mazartagh lies in the western half of Taklamakan Desert, north of Khotan. Among the ruins, Stein found huge numbers of Tibetan documents on wood and paper devoted to military and administrative matters. Many of these dated from the eight century AD, when Tibetan armies conquered the region and occupied the fort. He also found string sandals, shoes made of felt, remnants of wool clothing and nets for fishing. Similar utilitarian textiles had appeared at the Dunhuang Limes, Miran Fort and other military sites. The V&A holds, on loan, several textile fragments from Mazartagh, including woven cotton, hemp string, netting, quilted wool and pieces of shoes. |
| Production | Similar to those pieces found at Mazartagh, although bears no identifying Stein number itself. |
| Association | |
| Summary | This textile was brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943). It was recovered from the fort site of Mazartagh which dates from the 5th to the 11th century AD. Mazartagh is part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road and it refers to 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 – while silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India in this way. The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century. He made several expeditions to the chain of abandoned oasis settlements in the Silk Road region and each time brought back a wide variety of material. The textiles range in date from the second century BC to the twelfth century AD. Some are silk while others are made from the wool of a variety of different animals. Most of the pieces are fragmentary and it is not easy to see what they would originally have been used for. Occasionally, whole items survive such as shoes, purses and religious banners. |
| Bibliographic reference | 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). |
| Other number | Unknown - Stein number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:STEIN.289 |
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| Record created | December 16, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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