id: 159372 accession number: 1996.2.1 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.2.1 updated: 2023-04-05 11:07:29.892000 Child’s Coat with Ducks in Pearl Medallions, 700s. Probably Sogdia (present-day Uzbekistan). Silk: weft-faced compound twill weave (samite); width across shoulders: 84.5 cm (33 1/4 in.); length back of neck to hem: 51.4 cm (20 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1996.2.1 title: Child’s Coat with Ducks in Pearl Medallions title in original language: 雙鴨圓形紋兒童外套 series: series in original language: creation date: 700s creation date earliest: 700 creation date latest: 799 current location: creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: Probably Sogdia (present-day Uzbekistan);China, Tang dynasty technique: Silk: weft-faced compound twill weave (samite) department: Textiles collection: Textiles type: Garment find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: width across shoulders: 84.5 cm (33 1/4 in.); length back of neck to hem: 51.4 cm (20 1/4 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: Islamic art rotation opening date: 2012-12-03T05:00:00 Islamic art rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 3, 2012-December 9, 2013). title: The Splendor of Chinese Silk – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c opening date: 2018-02-05T05:00:00 The Splendor of Chinese Silk – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 5-August 12, 2018). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Sara Tremayne, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: ?-1996 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1996- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: The coat’s outer fabric is woven in five brilliant colors featuring paired ducks in pearl roundels, hallmarks of the precious and highly desired silks from Sogdia. The coat’s inner lining is a twill damask with a floral pattern made in China. The combination of Sogdian and Chinese silks in one garment with Tibetan ownership history is evidence of the vital exchange and cultural interaction among the peoples living along the trade routes of the Silk Road.

This precious coat was presumably made for a Tibetan prince. Given the coat’s pristine condition, though, it is unclear whether the garment was ever worn, or was used as a diplomatic gift or perhaps as currency. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, “The Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Major Works,” March 18, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4027 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: cat. no. 5, pp. 34-37; fig. 1, p. 22; fig. 3, p. 24 url: Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. page number: Reproduced: P. 36, 41-42, 66-67, fig. 2.28; Mentioned: P. 65 url: Corty, Axelle. "Mysterieuses Soieries d'Asie Central." Connaissance des arts 745 (Feb. 2016): 84-89. page number: Reproduced: pp. 84-85 url: "Highlights from North American Collections." IDP News: Newsletter of the International Dunhuang Project, no. 49-50, Summer 2017, pp. 4-7. page number: Reproduced: p. 7, fig. 5 url: The Asian Art Newspaper. "The Splendor of Chinese Textiles: From the Silk Road to the Imperial Court." The Asian Art Newspaper: Monthly for Collectors, Dealers, Museums and Galleries 21, no. 6 (Summer 2018): 25. page number: Reproduced: p. 25 url: Spee, Clarissa von. "From the Silk Road to the Imperial Court: Chinese Textiles in the Cleveland Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 48, no. 3 (May-June 2018): 50-56. page number: Reproduced: p. 50,fig. 1 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.2.1/1996.2.1_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.2.1/1996.2.1_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1996.2.1/1996.2.1_full.tif