Not currently on display at the V&A

The Stein Collection

Fragment
200 BC-400 AD (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These fragments are made of plain woven silk in red, buff and yellow respectively, which all show remains of stitching. Another fragment consists of pieces of plain woven blue, buff and red silk joined together by seams and in their turn sewn to a fragment of felted buff wool. It is unclear what these textiles would have been used for, although they are likely to have had a decorative purpose. They were recovered from the sites called The Limes Watchtowers, a line of fortified encampments designed to ensure the safe transit of goods across the area and dating from 200 BC to 400 AD.

The sites are 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.

These textiles were 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 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
TitleThe Stein Collection (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Plain woven silk, felted wool and stitching
Brief description
Several fragments of plain woven silk in red, yellow, cream and blue respectively and one of felted wool.
Physical description
Several fragments made of monochrome plain woven silk in red, buff and yellow respectively. All show remains of stitching. Another fragment, sand-encrusted, consist of pieces of plain woven blue, buff and red silk joined together by seams and in their turn sewn to a fragment of felted buff wool.
Dimensions
  • Length: 31.5cm
  • Width: 7.7cm
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 Limes are a line of defensive walls and beacon towers north of Dunhuang. They extend the wall completed by Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (259-210 BC) in 214 BC as a barrier against the Xiongnu. Under the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) the walls were carried 1,000 miles to the west, to the easternmost edge of the Tarim Basin. The Limes protected China's trade and military colonies and served as a base for expansion into Central Asia. They were made of stamped clay and gravel, alternating with layers with wood, to protect against corrosion by wind-blown sand. They were completed in less than a century with water carried over huge distances. Behind the walls lay a series of watchtowers. These housed small numbers of soldiers who watched the desert and signalled to armies stationed at nearby Dunhuang through a system of couriers and fire signals. Within the towers Stein found an astounding range of artefacts, which provide a glimpse of garrison life and military operations under the Han empire, including bronze mirrors, coarse pottery, tools, leather armour, weapons, shoes, and clothing. Ancient documents included personal letters on silk and wood; military directives and supply lists; and treatises on a range of subjects, including medicine and astrology. The V&A holds, on loan, several utilitarian textile fragments, parts of shoes and several pottery shards from the sites, dating from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD).
Association
Summary
These fragments are made of plain woven silk in red, buff and yellow respectively, which all show remains of stitching. Another fragment consists of pieces of plain woven blue, buff and red silk joined together by seams and in their turn sewn to a fragment of felted buff wool. It is unclear what these textiles would have been used for, although they are likely to have had a decorative purpose. They were recovered from the sites called The Limes Watchtowers, a line of fortified encampments designed to ensure the safe transit of goods across the area and dating from 200 BC to 400 AD.

The sites are 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.

These textiles were 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 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 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), vol. II, p. 786.
Other number
T.XXII.c.0010.b - Stein number
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:STEIN.37

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Record createdFebruary 25, 2004
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