id: 156106 accession number: 1991.4 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.4 updated: 2023-03-14 12:01:45.442000 Brocade with Djeiran Gazing at the Moon, 1115–1234. China, Jin dynasty (1115-1234). Silk and gold thread; tabby, brocaded; overall: 109.8 x 38.5 cm (43 1/4 x 15 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1991.4 title: Brocade with Djeiran Gazing at the Moon title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1115–1234 creation date earliest: 1115 creation date latest: 1234 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: China, Jin dynasty (1115-1234) technique: Silk and gold thread; tabby, brocaded department: Textiles collection: Textiles type: Textile find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 109.8 x 38.5 cm (43 1/4 x 15 3/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian & Chinese Textiles from the Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art opening date: 1997-10-19T00:00:00 When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian & Chinese Textiles from the Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 2-May 17, 1998). title: The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353 opening date: 2002-10-28T00:00:00 The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256-1353. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 28, 2002-February 16, 2003); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (April 13-July 27, 2003). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Lisbet Holmes Textiles, London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?–1991 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1991– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The gold-brocaded pattern is repeated in staggered rows with alternating orientations. digital description: wall description: The mysterious image of a deerlike animal gazing up at the moon among clouds has been variously interpreted over many centuries. The animal, lying down with one foreleg extended and looking back, originated as a djeiran, or Central Asian antelope. Commonly appearing on Sogdian silver from the 600s onward, the motif migrated via the trade routes to northern China. There, during the Jin and Yuan (1279–1368) dynasties, it was very popular and always depicted with the moon supported by clouds. Chinese writers often identify the djeiran as the mythical rhinoceros (xi'niu) that is said to gaze at the moon, or as the cow of Wu "panting upon seeing the moon." --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. 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: cat. no. 29, pp. 114–115, 106 url: Cunningham, Michael R. Masterworks of Asian art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. page number: Reproduced: p. 60 - 61 url: Komaroff, Linda, and Stefano Carboni. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven, CT: Distributed by Yale University Press, 2002. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 179, p. 282; fig. 66, p, 68 url: Müller, Kathrin. Musterhaft naturgetreu: Tiere in Seiden, Zeichnungen und Tapisserien des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020. page number: Reproduced: P. 70, abb. 24 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.4/1991.4_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.4/1991.4_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.4/1991.4_full.tif