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Source Description
Mongol ceremonial robes, known as <em>zhisun</em>, were made from textiles woven with gold and silk of one color. These were given by Mongol emperors to members of the court to be worn during festivals and on important occasions that usually included lavish banquets. Like the <em>Winged Lions and Griffins</em> (<a href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.50">CMA 1989.50</a>), the design of this silk is a uniquely Central Asian synthesis of eastern Iranian and Chinese elements. Motifs and technical details shared by the two silks, moreover, leave no doubt that they were produced in the same city.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
159534
label
Cloth of Gold: Displayed Falcons
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
159534
contentType
object
title
Cloth of Gold: Displayed Falcons
description
Mongol ceremonial robes, known as <em>zhisun</em>, were made from textiles woven with gold and silk of one color. These were given by Mongol emperors to members of the court to be worn during festivals and on important occasions that usually included lavish banquets. Like the <em>Winged Lions and Griffins</em> (<a href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.50">CMA 1989.50</a>), the design of this silk is a uniquely Central Asian synthesis of eastern Iranian and Chinese elements. Motifs and technical details shared by the two silks, moreover, leave no doubt that they were produced in the same city.
date
mid-1200s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60755734
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 57.5 x 18.4 cm (22 5/8 x 7 1/4 in.); Mounted: 67.9 x 29.8 cm (26 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
cul
Central Asia
accession
1996.297
Source extras
tec
Silk and gold thread, lampas
tombstone
Cloth of Gold: Displayed Falcons, mid-1200s. Central Asia. Silk and gold thread, lampas; overall: 57.5 x 18.4 cm (22 5/8 x 7 1/4 in.); mounted: 67.9 x 29.8 cm (26 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Edward L. Whittemore Fund, 1996.297
collection
Textiles
didYouKnow
This silk lampas weave textile with gold thread features double-headed falcons against a background of vine scrolls.
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Renaissance Armor, Early Islamic Ceramic, French Vase, Gleitsman Painting Added to Museum Collection,” December 13, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
citation
Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. <em>When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles</em>. 1997.
page_number
pp. 144-145, color reproduction, p. 145; detail reproduction figure 51, p. 128
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
fig. 8, p. 8
citation
Akbarnia, Ladan. "Wonders of the Natural World." In <em>Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World</em>, edited by Ladan Akbarnia, 139-161. San Diego: The San Diego Museum of Art, 2025.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 139-140, cat.71
creditline
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:16:21.097000
sourceId
159534
dept
Textiles
coll
Textiles
med
Silk and gold thread, lampas
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
f3afc8161280a1c6