textile; 紡織品(Chinese) BM-MAS.1128

Period:Tang dynasty Production date:9thC-10thC
Materials:silk, 絲綢 (Chinese),
Technique:painted, 彩繪 (Chinese),
Subjects:bird 鳥 (Chinese)
Dimensions:Length: 40 centimetres Width: 6.50 centimetres

Description:
This rectangular fragment of plain woven silk was painted with a bird and flower pattern. In the centre of the piece there is a large bird facing the front, and a bird on the left flying up towards the centre. Two more birds, although incomplete, are also visible: a tail above the flying bird and a beak on the right. All these patterns, including the two triangular flowers on the right and the clouds in between are drawn in ink with very light, fluent touches of the brush and then coloured. Weave structures: Warp: silk, untwisted, single, light brown, 47 ends/cm; Weft: silk, untwisted, single, light brown, 38 lats/cm. Weave structure: 1/1 plain weave. 長方形彩繪絹織物，織物中間位置上是一隻正面而立的鳥，但頭部已缺。左邊有一鳥正向其飛去，此鳥上方位置有一尾羽，右側則可見一鳥喙，應分屬另兩隻鳥的局部，在飛鳥右側則是三角形適合花卉紋樣，所有的圖案均以墨線勾邊，紅、黃色彩繪。 組織結構： 經線：絲，無撚，單根排列，淺棕色，47根/cm；緯線：絲，無撚，單根排列，淺棕色，38根/cm；組織：1/1平紋。
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Comments:This fragment was not catalogued by Stein, perhaps because its interest emerged when it was unfolded. It is believed to come from the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas in Dunhuang. It was probably cut out from a wider and longer piece of fabric to form the border of a painting or a banner streamer.