The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Makaras, Phoenixes and Flowers

Makaras, Phoenixes and Flowers

1200s
lampas, silk and gold thread
Overall: 51.3 x 75.6 cm (20 3/16 x 29 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1991.5
Location: not on view

Description

Central Asian designers drew from a wide variety of motifs, both imaginary and real. In this silk, rows of soaring phoenixes alternate with rows of makaras. Combining a fish body and tail, wings, and a dragon's head, the makara originated in India as a water creature. With the spread of Buddhism, the motif migrated into the art of Central Asia and, from there, into the art of northern China. In Italy, exotic Central Asian patterns such as this inspired flights of imagination. One such example (seen in the photograph below) shows a creature, strikingly similar to the makara, spewing forth a dragon while a dog walks up its back.
  • Wardwell, Anne E. "Two Silk and Gold Textiles of the Early Mongol Period." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 79, no. 10 (1992): 354-78. Mentioned & Reproduced: p. 372-73 www.jstor.org
    Wilson, J. Keith, and Anne E. Wardwell. "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 8 (1994): 270-347. Reproduced: p. 329; Mentioned: p. 329-32, 347 www.jstor.org
    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. Reproduced: Cat. no. 41, p. 153
    Hollberg, Cecilie. Textiles and Wealth in 14th Century Florence: Wool, Silk, Painting. Firenze: Giunti, 2017. Mentioned: p. 180
    Müller, Kathrin. Musterhaft naturgetreu: Tiere in Seiden, Zeichnungen und Tapisserien des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020. Reproduced: P. 48, abb. 11
  • 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).
    Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994).
  • {{cite web|title=Makaras, Phoenixes and Flowers|url=false|author=|year=1200s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.5