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Source Description
Mongol taste for luxury was equated with gold, symbol of imperial authority, power, and legitimacy. This splendid cloth of gold-exceptionally large and luxurious-may have enriched the interior of a palace or a majestic tent. The golden pattern, although tarnished on the faded red silk ground, features scalloped medallions with felines whose long tails terminate in dragons’ heads amid elegant floral vines. Double-headed eagles form interstitial motifs on the floral ground. A radiant gold-on-gold band of pseudo-Arabic script enriches the top, woven with gold strips wrapped around a silk core on a ground of flat strips of gold, immediately beneath the pattern testing area.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
155476
label
Cloth of gold with felines and eagles
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
155476
contentType
object
title
Cloth of gold with felines and eagles
description
Mongol taste for luxury was equated with gold, symbol of imperial authority, power, and legitimacy. This splendid cloth of gold-exceptionally large and luxurious-may have enriched the interior of a palace or a majestic tent. The golden pattern, although tarnished on the faded red silk ground, features scalloped medallions with felines whose long tails terminate in dragons’ heads amid elegant floral vines. Double-headed eagles form interstitial motifs on the floral ground. A radiant gold-on-gold band of pseudo-Arabic script enriches the top, woven with gold strips wrapped around a silk core on a ground of flat strips of gold, immediately beneath the pattern testing area.
date
1225–75
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60761823
genreSpecific
Textile
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 170.5 x 109 cm (67 1/8 x 42 15/16 in.); Mounted: 179.1 x 118.7 x 13.3 cm (70 1/2 x 46 3/4 x 5 1/4 in.)
cul
Northeast Iran
accession
1990.2
Source extras
tec
Silk and gold thread: lampas
tombstone
Cloth of gold with felines and eagles, 1225–75. Northeast Iran. Silk and gold thread: lampas; overall: 170.5 x 109 cm (67 1/8 x 42 15/16 in.); mounted: 179.1 x 118.7 x 13.3 cm (70 1/2 x 46 3/4 x 5 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1990.2
collection
T - Islamic
didYouKnow
Mongol cloths of gold, called <em>nasji</em>, incorporate Iranian, Central Asian, and Chinese features, reflecting the effects of gift exchanges and international commerce.
citations
citation
<em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1991.
page_number
p. 47
citation
Wardwell, Anne E. "Notable Acquisitions." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 78, no. 3 (June 1991): 63–147.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 123
citation
"Exhibitions, Golden Lampas." <em>HALI; the international journal of Oriental carpets and textiles </em>13 no. 59 (June 1991): 125.
page_number
p. 125
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): 354–378.
page_number
Reproduced: cover, pp. 359–361, 377–378, fig. 5; Mentioned: pp. 354–378
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
citation
Reynods, Valrae, "Silk in Tibet: Luxury Textiles in Secular Life and Sacred Art," <em>The Second Hali Annual: Asian Art</em>, ed. Jil Tilden (London, 1995): 86–97.
page_number
no. 7
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
Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 43, fig. 53, 60, 61; pp. 128, 133–134, 154–155
citation
Bonhams Knightsbridge. <em>Islamic Works of Art including two 'Fostat Carpet' Fragments</em>. 21 April 1999.
page_number
p. 62, fig. b
citation
Kuhn, Dieter, Feng Zhao, Juanjuan Chen, Nengfu Huang, Wenying Li, Hao Peng, and Feng Zhao. <em>Chinese Silks</em>. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
page_number
p. 338
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. 7.8, p. 338
citation
Highet, Juliet. "Silks from Islamic Lands." <em>The Asian Art Newspaper: Monthly for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries</em> 17, issue 5 (March 2014):16–18.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 16
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: pp. 210, 217, 219, fig. 6.4; Mentioned: pp. 180, 215, 226. 227
citation
Mühlemann, Corinne. <em>Complex Weaves: Technique, Text, and Cultural History of Striped Silks.</em> Affalterbach: Didymos-Verlag, 2023.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 159–160, figs. 77–78
citation
Pregla, Barbara, Anja Preiss, and Evemarie Schaper. <em>Die Textilien im Domschatz zu Halberstadt: Bestandskatalog.</em> [Riggisberg, Switzerland]: Abegg-Stiftung, 2025.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 291, n. 50, vol. 2
citation
Parker, Elizabeth. "Epic Scale." <em>HALI; the International Journal of Oriental Carpets and Textiles</em>. Issue 222, Winter 2024
page_number
p. 80
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-06-10 19:46:15.409000
sourceId
155476
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
cdebcbd145021580