The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Dragons Chasing Flaming Pearls

Dragons Chasing Flaming Pearls

1200s or earlier
tapestry, silk and gold thread
Overall: 60 x 32 cm (23 5/8 x 12 5/8 in.)
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1988.33
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The metal thread used in this weaving is fabricated from very thin strips of parchment with applied gold and silver leaf that are then wound around a core of yellow silk.

Description

This rectangular, reversible tapestry (kesi) fragment, woven with silk and metal thread on a deep purple ground, is a section from yardage likely intended for a garment, but no contemporary paintings exist to confirm this. A selvage edge remains on the left; having an extant selvage edge provides us with information about the loom on which this textile was woven. The design motif of this kesi—dragons chasing flaming pearls—is Chinese. But the form of the dragons and the way they are crowded together is not Chinese. Rather than animals and birds among flowers, a frequently occurring pattern in the decorative art of eastern Central Asia that long predated the Mongol conquest, here the dragons are chasing flaming pearls. This deviation is indicative of the powerful influence of the Mongols.
  • ?–1988
    (Spink & Son, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1988–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Simcox, Jacqueline. "Silks from the Middle Kingdom." Hali: The International Magazine of Fine Carpets and Textiles, Issue 43, (February 1989). p. 16-33; illus. fig. 14, p. 21.
    Wilson, J. Keith. "Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 8 (1990): 286-323. Accessed April 4, 2020. p. 286-323 25161297
    Watt, James C. Y., and Anne E. Wardwell. When Silk was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997. pp. 75–77, cat. no. 17
  • Gallery 239 textile rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 10, 2016-February 7, 2017).
    When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian & Chinese Textiles from the Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 26, 1997-January 4, 1998); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 26, 1997-January 4, 1998); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 2-May 17, 1998); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 2-May 17, 1998).
    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 24-November 25, 1990).
    The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).
  • {{cite web|title=Dragons Chasing Flaming Pearls|url=false|author=|year=1200s or earlier|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.33