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Source Description
The Mongols created exceptionally sumptuous cloths of gold to symbolize their imperial authority and legitimacy, this being the most resplendent example known. Opulent expanses of gold thread enrich the roundels, lions, and griffins in striking contrast with the intricate brown silk foliate ground. The pattern integrates motifs from Iran—paired lions in roundels and paired griffins—and from China, cloud ornaments on the lions’ wings. They suggest it was woven in an imperial workshop in Central Asia where Iranian and Chinese craftsmen worked together with local artisans. The gold is on a paper substrate associated with Asia, whereas animal skin substrates were used in Islamic lands. It is woven in a new technique developed by Iranian weavers, a combination of two weaves known as lampas, which was adopted internationally.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
154940
label
Cloth of gold with winged lions and griffins
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
154940
contentType
object
title
Cloth of gold with winged lions and griffins
description
The Mongols created exceptionally sumptuous cloths of gold to symbolize their imperial authority and legitimacy, this being the most resplendent example known. Opulent expanses of gold thread enrich the roundels, lions, and griffins in striking contrast with the intricate brown silk foliate ground. The pattern integrates motifs from Iran—paired lions in roundels and paired griffins—and from China, cloud ornaments on the lions’ wings. They suggest it was woven in an imperial workshop in Central Asia where Iranian and Chinese craftsmen worked together with local artisans. The gold is on a paper substrate associated with Asia, whereas animal skin substrates were used in Islamic lands. It is woven in a new technique developed by Iranian weavers, a combination of two weaves known as lampas, which was adopted internationally.
date
1225–75
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60754491
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 124 x 48.8 cm (48 13/16 x 19 3/16 in.); Mounted: 135.6 x 59.4 cm (53 3/8 x 23 3/8 in.)
cul
Central Asia
accession
1989.5
Source extras
tec
Silk and gold thread: lampas
tombstone
Cloth of gold with winged lions and griffins, 1225–75. Central Asia. Silk and gold thread: lampas; overall: 124 x 48.8 cm (48 13/16 x 19 3/16 in.); mounted: 135.6 x 59.4 cm (53 3/8 x 23 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1989.50
collection
T - Islamic
didYouKnow
The tail of each paired griffin passes between its hind legs, loops around a rosette, and terminates in a feline head.
citations
citation
<em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1991.
page_number
p. 45
citation
<em>Interpretations: Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
no. 47
citation
Wardwell, Anne E. "Notable Acquisitions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 78, no. 3 (1991): 63-147.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 124
citation
“Recent Acquisitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art II: Departments of Asian Art: Supplement.” <em>The Burlington Magazine</em> 133, no. 1059 (June 1991): 417–424.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: no. VII, p. 419
citation
<em>HALI; the international journal of Oriental carpets and textiles</em> 59 (August-October 1991), p. 125.
citation
Turner, Evan H. and John Russell. <em>Masterpieces from East and Wes</em>t. New York, NY: Rizzoli International, 1992.
page_number
p. 37
citation
Wardwell, Anne E. "Two Silk and Gold Textiles of the Early Mongol Period." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 79, no. 10 (1992): 354-78.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 356-58, 376; Mentioned: p. 354-78
citation
Wardwell, Anne E. "Important Asian Textiles Recently Acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art," <em>Oriental Art</em> N.S. 38 no.4 (Winter 1992/93): 249.
page_number
p. 249, fig. 6
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em>. Vol. 37 no. 08, October 1997
page_number
Reproduced: cover
citation
Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. <em>When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles</em>. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Art: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1997.
page_number
cat. no. 35, figs. 50, 52, 62; pp. 126, 128, 142-143
citation
Wardwell, Anne E. and James C. Watt, "A Meeting of Traditions," <em>HALI; the international journal of Oriental carpets and textiles</em> 95 (November 1997): 102-104.
citation
Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. <em>Masterworks of Asian Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 66-67
citation
Chuvin, Pierre, and Gilles Béguin.<em> Les arts de l'Asie Centrale</em>. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 1999.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 460, no. 563
citation
Bonhams Knightsbridge. <em>Islamic Works of Art including two 'Fostat Carpet' Fragments</em>. 21 April 1999.
page_number
fig. a, p. 62
citation
Hattstein, Markus, and Peter Delius. <em>Islam, Kunst und Architektur</em>. Köln: Könemann, 2000.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 405
citation
Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni. <em>The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353</em>. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven, CT: Distributed by Yale University Press, 2002.
page_number
cat. no. 69, p. 64, p. 260, fig. 58
citation
Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. <em>The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty</em>. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010.
page_number
p. 256, fig. 274
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 363
citation
Mackie, Louise W. <em>Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century</em>. Cleveland, OH; New Haven, CT: The Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015.
page_number
Reproduced: Front Cover, P. 6, 216, 218, fig. 6.3; Mentioned: P. 180, 215
citation
Fircks, Juliane von. "Dou Royaume des Tartares vient Drap Dor et de Soie." <em>Histoire de l'Art </em>82, issue 1 (2018).
page_number
Reproduced: p. 182, fig. 13
citation
Mozzati, Luca, and David Radzinowicz. <em>Islamic Art</em>. Munich: Prestel, 2019.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 200
citation
Clarke, Sarah E. Braddock, and Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo. <em>Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads: Journeys between East and West, Past and Present</em>. London; New York: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2022.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 90, fig. 7.4
citation
Blessing, Patricia, Elizabeth Dospěl Williams, and Eiren L. Shea. <em>Medieval Textiles Across Eurasia, C. 300-1400.</em> Cambridge, United Kingdom; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 11; Reproduced: p. 13, fig. 10
citation
Parker, Elizabeth. "Epic Scale." <em>HALI; the International Journal of Oriental Carpets and Textiles</em>. Issue 222, Winter 2024
page_number
cover, p. 19, 82
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:01:27.764000
sourceId
154940
dept
Textiles
coll
T - Islamic
med
Silk and gold thread: lampas
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
82e259f7c5801361