Chinese brocade
China
6th century
46 cm x 57 cm. 

Detail view of a 6th century AD warp-faced Chinese brocade, depicting humans and deities, along with confronting fantastic animals, one pair apparently being human headed birds. This weaving is strikingly similar to an example in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. Like that example, the blue outline color has been exchanged in bands throughout the textile for a green outline, which has now faded to leave bands devoid of a clear design.

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