The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 15, 2026

An irregularly shaped silk textile fragment features dense patterns of muted red and golden-yellow threads on a gray-brown ground. Repetitive motifs suggesting rows of small figures or architecture are weathered and frayed. The jagged piece tapers toward the bottom left, revealing a complex interlocking weave. Worn areas and tarnished threads appear across its rectangular top and triangular lower section, creating a highly textured, aged surface.

Fragment

700s

China or Japan

compound twill, silk
Overall: 30.5 x 21 cm (12 x 8 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1954.70.s
Location: Not on view
  • said to have come from the Shōsōin and Hōryūji, Nara, Japan
    ?–1954
    (Howard Hollis and Co., Cleveland, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1954–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Shepherd, Dorothy G. "An Album of Textiles from the Shōsōin and Hōryūji." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 6 (1955): 124–127. Mentioned: pp. 124–127; Reproduced: pp. 126–127 www.jstor.org
  • {{cite web|title=Fragment|url=false|author=|year=700s|access-date=15 April 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.70.s