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Source Description
Against a deep blue satin ground, a peony tree emerges from an undulating sea. This embroidery was made using the needle looping technique, in which rows of detached loops are worked over silvered paper, attaching the ground only along the contours of the design. The design is filled with auspicious symbols, including the peony symbolizing wealth and honor, and the rock (<em>shoushi</em> 壽石) symbolizing longevity. There are small Buddhist symbols among the flowers, including the wheel of the law, a pair of conch shells representing the sounds of the Buddha’s teachings, and a swastika, an auspicious symbol signifying good fortune introduced into China from India with Buddhism.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
156897
label
Embroidery from a Cloud Collar: Ocean, Rocks, and Peonies
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
156897
contentType
object
title
Embroidery from a Cloud Collar: Ocean, Rocks, and Peonies
description
Against a deep blue satin ground, a peony tree emerges from an undulating sea. This embroidery was made using the needle looping technique, in which rows of detached loops are worked over silvered paper, attaching the ground only along the contours of the design. The design is filled with auspicious symbols, including the peony symbolizing wealth and honor, and the rock (<em>shoushi</em> 壽石) symbolizing longevity. There are small Buddhist symbols among the flowers, including the wheel of the law, a pair of conch shells representing the sounds of the Buddha’s teachings, and a swastika, an auspicious symbol signifying good fortune introduced into China from India with Buddhism.
date
1300s
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79946990
genreSpecific
Embroidery
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 63.8 x 60 cm (25 1/8 x 23 5/8 in.); Mounted: 69.8 x 67.3 cm (27 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.)
cul
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) - early Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
accession
1993.1
Source extras
tec
silk and silver thread, silvered paper; needleloop embroidery
tombstone
Embroidery from a Cloud Collar: Ocean, Rocks, and Peonies (云肩刺繡：海、石，牡丹), 1300s. China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) - early Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Silk and silver thread, silvered paper; needleloop embroidery; overall: 63.8 x 60 cm (25 1/8 x 23 5/8 in.); mounted: 69.8 x 67.3 cm (27 1/2 x 26 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1993.10
titleInOriginalLanguage
云肩刺繡：海、石，牡丹
collection
Textiles
didYouKnow
Judging from the border on the lower portion, this fragment is most of one lobe of a cloud-collar medallion. Each of the three other original sections would have been embroidered with the same design.
citations
citation
"1993 Annual Report." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 81, no. 6 (1994): 143–218.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 214; Mentioned: p. 167
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
Reproduced: pp. 186–187, cat. no. 55
citation
Chen, Juanjuan, Nengfu Huang, Wenying Li, and Hao Peng. <em>Chinese Silks</em>. Edited by Dieter Kuhn and Feng Zhao. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
page_number
Reproduced: fig. 8.71, p. 424
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 11:27:01.418000
sourceId
156897
dept
Textiles
coll
Textiles
med
silk and silver thread, silvered paper; needleloop embroidery
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
95ef8e3dbaad51b6