The Stein Collection
Textile
700-1000 (made)
700-1000 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
se two fragments of plain woven unidentified fibre were recovered from the site of Khadalik, a Buddhist shrine dating from the 8th to the 10th century AD.
The site is part of an area of Central Asia now referred to as 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 their 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.
These fragments were brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943). The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century. 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.
The site is part of an area of Central Asia now referred to as 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 their 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.
These fragments were brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943). The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century. 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.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Title | The Stein Collection (named collection) |
| Materials and techniques | Plain woven unidentified fibre, stitched and painted |
| Brief description | Two pieces of plain woven cream and white unidentified fibre |
| Physical description | Two textile pieces, one monochrome plain weave cream unidentified fibre, folded over along one edge, stitched with cream thread and with ink-like marks across the surface, the other of monochrome plain weave white unidentified fibre |
| 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 | Textiles have previously been stored in a piece of folded paper which has been labelled 'Kha.i.0025' and 'Cloth pieces from W.of S platform' probably by either or both Marc Aurel Stein and his assistant Miss F M G Lorimer. |
| Historical context | Khadalik lies between Khotan and Keriya on the southern branch of the Silk Road. Here Stein discovered remains of a number of Buddhist shrines. Inside several temples were elaborate murals depicting Buddhist deities, large statues with traces of gilding, reliefs and painted panels. Large numbers of Buddhist texts were found among the ruins, including pothi, religious books of Indian origin, written in Sanskrit, wooden tablets and sticks covered in Tibetan writing, and fragments of documents deposited as votive offerings. Other votive gifts included numerous small pagodas and moulded Buddha figures. Strings of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) copper coins, left as offerings near Buddha statues, were taken by Stein as evidence that the site had been abandoned in the eight century AD. The V&A holds, on loan, from Khadalik, pieces of woven plant fibres, wool felt and twill; and plaster-covered woven fabric, which may have functioned as stucco backing. |
| Association | |
| Summary | se two fragments of plain woven unidentified fibre were recovered from the site of Khadalik, a Buddhist shrine dating from the 8th to the 10th century AD. The site is part of an area of Central Asia now referred to as 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 their 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. These fragments were brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862–1943). The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 700 ancient and medieval textiles recovered by Stein at the beginning of the twentieth century. 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. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | Kha.i.0025 - Stein number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:STEIN.553:1, 2 |
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| Record created | January 28, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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