The Stein Collection
Fragment
8th century (made)
8th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This fragment of monochrome twill-weave red wool has been tied around the middle with museum tag to form a bundle. It was recovered from the site of Miran Fort on the eastern verge of the Taklamakan desert. Material was discovered in the remains of a fort held by the Tibetans during their domination of the southern Taklamakan in the 8th century AD.
The site is part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road. This series of overland trade routes crossed Asia from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk but the Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. While silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism travelled east, entering China from India.
The explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) brought this piece of fibre back from Central Asia. The V&A has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the 20th century. Some are silk while others, like this piece, are made from the wool of a variety of different animals.
The site is part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road. This series of overland trade routes crossed Asia from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk but the Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. While silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism travelled east, entering China from India.
The explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) brought this piece of fibre back from Central Asia. The V&A has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the 20th century. Some are silk while others, like this piece, 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 | Twill woven wool |
| Brief description | Twill woven red wool. |
| Physical description | Piece of monochrome twill weave red wool that has been tied around the middle with museum tag to form a bundle. |
| 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 | Wound around textile is a rectagular sticky label on string showing Stein number possibly in Stein's handwriting or that of his assistant, Miss F M G Lorimer. |
| Historical context | The Miran fort lies midway along southern Silk Road, at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains. When Tibetan troops occupied the area in the late eight century AD, they built the fort to guard one of many routes through which they moved into Central Asia. In 1907, Stein excavated rubbish heaps at the fort and found wood slips, dating from the eight to the ninth century AD, which provided early examples of Tibetan writing. He also found fragments of wool rugs in bright colours and pieces of silk. The V&A holds a large number of textiles from the Miran Fort on loan, including spun wool, pattern and plain woven silk and wool, woven and spun hemp, woven horsehair, cords and painted silk. |
| Association | |
| Summary | This fragment of monochrome twill-weave red wool has been tied around the middle with museum tag to form a bundle. It was recovered from the site of Miran Fort on the eastern verge of the Taklamakan desert. Material was discovered in the remains of a fort held by the Tibetans during their domination of the southern Taklamakan in the 8th century AD. The site is part of an area of Central Asia we now call the Silk Road. This series of overland trade routes crossed Asia from China to Europe. The most notable item traded was silk but the Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. While silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism travelled east, entering China from India. The explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) brought this piece of fibre back from Central Asia. The V&A has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the 20th century. Some are silk while others, like this piece, are made from the wool of a variety of different animals. |
| 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: Clarendon Press, 1921), vol. I, p.481. Vol. IV, pl.XLVIII |
| Other number | M.I.ix.008 - Stein number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:STEIN.251 |
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| Record created | January 6, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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