The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 13, 2024

Prince's trousers and lining

Prince's trousers and lining

700s
twill damask: silk
Overall: 52 x 28 cm (20 1/2 x 11 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1996.2.2
Location: not on view

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. The cut of the coat suggests that the set belonged to a little boy. 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 8th century. 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.
  • ?-1996
    (Sara Tremayne, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1996-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • 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: cat. no. 5, pp. 34-37; Reproduced: p. 36
    Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Reproduced: P. 65, fig. 2.27; Mentioned: P. 65, 69
    "Highlights from North American Collections." IDP News: Newsletter of the International Dunhuang Project, no. 49-50, Summer 2017, pp. 4-7. 7
  • 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).
  • {{cite web|title=Prince's trousers and lining|url=false|author=|year=700s|access-date=13 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1996.2.2