Prince's trousers and lining

700s

China, Tang dynasty

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Medium

twill damask: silk

Measurements

Overall: 52 x 28 cm (20 1/2 x 11 in.)

Credit Line

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1996.2.2

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The pants are made of three parts: two rectangles folded down their length and joined by an inseam, a center front seam, and a back seam; a third piece is a square folded to form a triangle and inserted into the inseam at the crotch

Description

This coat and pants are part of a set of garments that originally included an outer pair of pants and silk boots made from the same material as the coat. Such rich garments would have been worn by a member of the imperial family or nobility. The fabrics comprising this outfit were woven in widely distant parts of Asia. The silk of the coat, with ducks in pearl roundels, was woven in Sogdiana. The white silk of the pants, ornamented with flowers and birds, is Chinese. Both garments are lined with a Chinese silk woven with a radial floral pattern that was common during the 700s. The coat and pants were made at a time when Tibetan power extended to parts of China, eastern Central Asia, and the trade routes to Sogdiana.