Textile with Stripes and Confronted Birds

Textile with Stripes and Confronted Birds

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The oldest Chinese textiles in the Museum's collection (2002.558, .559), these two fragments with a pattern of geometric motifs and birds or dragonlike animals come from the same length of woven silk. The stripes, probably dyed with cinnabar, retain a fresh red color. Cinnabar was mined in China as early as three to four thousand years ago and has been found in Late Neolithic tombs. By the time of the Western Zhou dynasty (ca. 1046–771 B.C.), the Chinese were refining and processing it to obtain the very best red color. Little of the mineral dye was produced, however, and its use was restricted to luxury textiles for the elite.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Textile with Stripes and Confronted BirdsTextile with Stripes and Confronted BirdsTextile with Stripes and Confronted BirdsTextile with Stripes and Confronted BirdsTextile with Stripes and Confronted Birds

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.