The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 30, 2023

Brocade with Djeiran Gazing at the Moon

1115–1234

China, Jin dynasty

(1115-1234)

Silk and gold thread; tabby, brocaded

Overall: 109.8 x 38.5 cm (43 1/4 x 15 3/16 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1991.4

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The gold-brocaded pattern is repeated in staggered rows with alternating orientations.

Description

The mysterious image of a deerlike animal gazing up at the moon among clouds has been variously interpreted over many centuries. The animal, lying down with one foreleg extended and looking back, originated as a djeiran, or Central Asian antelope. Commonly appearing on Sogdian silver from the 600s onward, the motif migrated via the trade routes to northern China. There, during the Jin and Yuan (1279–1368) dynasties, it was very popular and always depicted with the moon supported by clouds. Chinese writers often identify the djeiran as the mythical rhinoceros (xi'niu) that is said to gaze at the moon, or as the cow of Wu "panting upon seeing the moon."

Provenance
?–1991
(Lisbet Holmes Textiles, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1991–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Art: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1997 Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 29, pp. 114–115, 106
Cunningham, Michael R. Masterworks of Asian art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: p. 60 - 61
Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven, CT: Distributed by Yale University Press, 2002. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 179, p. 282; fig. 66, p, 68
Müller, Kathrin. Musterhaft naturgetreu: Tiere in Seiden, Zeichnungen und Tapisserien des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020. Reproduced: P. 70, abb. 24
Exhibition history

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).

The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 28, 2002-February 16, 2003); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (April 13-July 27, 2003).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.4