Banner part with floral designs, plain-weave and figured silk, clamp-resist dyed, found in Cave 17 of the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, 800-1000

Remains of a Buddhist ritual banner. Triangular headpiece of monochrome patterned weave brown silk showing allover leaf pattern with border and suspension loop of plain woven brown silk. The upper border of the body still contains a piece of split bamboo. There are the remains of the first panel of the body of plain woven, clamp-resist dyed silk showing a pattern of alternately placed flowers with intertwining foliage in green on a brown ground. Edges rolled and stitched.

Weave structures:
1. Suspension loop
Warp: silk, single, brown, 52 warps/cm; Weft: silk, single, brown, 58 wefts/cm. Weave structure: 1/1 plain weave
2. Head border
Warp: silk, single, brown, 44 warps/cm; Weft: silk, single, brown, 37 wefts/cm. Weave structure: 1/1 plain weave
3. Infill with rosettes
Warp: silk, single, brown, 54 warsp/cm; Weft: silk, single, brown, 37 wefts/cm. Weave structure: 2-2 patterning weave for pattern on 1/1 plain weave for foundation
4. Banner panel with floral pattern
Warp: silk, single, light brown, 42 warps/cm; Weft: silk, single, light brown, 32 wefts/cm. Weave structure: 1/1 plain weave

Stein Textile Loan Collection. On loan from the Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India. Copyright: Government of India

Dunhuang is at the eastern end of the southern Silk Road, in present-day Gansu Province. It lies between the western reaches of China and the Tarim Basin. When China began to expand into Central Asia during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), Dunhuang served as a base for military operations and trade. In the succeeding centuries, Buddhist shrines were established southeast of Dunhuang in a series of man-made caves called Qianfodong, "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas" (today also known as the Mogao Grottoes). Here spectacular cave temples were cut out of the cliffs, beginning in the fourth century AD. Over a period of several centuries, communities of Buddhist monks filled the caves with splendid sculpture and wall paintings. These included colossal Buddha statues, painted clay sculptures of deities, elaborate murals of Buddhist legends, and thousands of tiny painted Buddha images; all of which gave the site its name, Qianfodong. Buddhist cave temples had first been established in at Bamiyan (Afghanistan) and Gandhara (formerly in India, now Pakistan). At Qianfodong, Stein found paintings of graceful figures in the Gandharan style among landscapes and buildings that were distinctly Chinese; a fusion of Indian and Chinese art, which he had noted elsewhere along the Silk Road.

In 1900, a Daoist monk named Wang Yuanlu discovered a secret cave at Qianfodung, which contained thousands of documents and paintings. Stein purchased a significant amount of this material from Wang during his visit to the Dunhuang in 1907. Among the many religious works were Buddhist, Jewish, Nestorian, Daoist and Confucian texts; all of which dated from approximately 400 to 1000 A.D. Numerous languages were represented as well, including Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Hebrew. Stein also acquired many textile pieces. Most of these were silk, for Dunhuang lay on the main trade route between silk-growing regions of China and Central Asia. Elaborate embroideries depicted Buddhist legends and processions of donors. Patterned silks included Chinese and Sassanian (Persian) designs. From China came floral and geometric patterns, combined with figures of animals and birds. Sassanian motifs included pairs of confronted ducks, lions, and other beasts, combined with medallions and quatrefoils. Stein also found undecorated silks used as processional banners and valances for decorating bases of statues. The cave was sealed soon after 1000 A.D., apparently to protect the contents from invading armies. The V&A holds, on loan, a large number of textiles from Dunhuang, including plain and pattern woven silks in many colours, painted Buddhist banners and canopies, and wrappers for Buddhist texts.

Found in Cave 17 of the Mogao Grottoes (Caves of the Thousand Buddhas).

This textile is the remaining part of a Buddhist bannner. In its original state, the banner would have been longer with streamers attached at each side. It was suspended by the loop at the top. The triangular headpiece is of a brown, patterned weave silk with an all over leaf pattern. It was recovered from Cave 17 of the Mogao Grottoes. This shrine is one of China's great Buddhist pilgrimage sites and is situated near the oasis town of Dunhuang. The shrines were carved out of the gravel conglomerate naturally occurring in the region.

The site is 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 Silk Road was also important for the exchange of ideas. While silk textiles travelled west from China, Buddhism entered China from India along this route.

These textiles were brought back from Central Asia by the explorer and archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943). The Victoria and Albert Museum has around 600 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 animals.

LOAN:STEIN.545