Pair of Boots (907–1125): Art, History and Details

Pair of Boots (907–1125) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This magnificent pair of boots, made of finely woven silk tapestry (kesi), features two phoenixes in flight chasing a flaming pearl. Although the bright colors of the fabric have become muted from being buried in a tomb and the gold threads are partly disintegrated, the once lavish use of gold and the Chinese-inspired phoenix motif suggest that the boots were made for a member of the Liao imperial family, probably a woman. At the time the boots were made in the Khitan-occupied territory in northern China, footbinding was introduced among upper-class women in southern China. The high value the Khitan people accorded to boots relates to their mobile, seminomadic lifestyle.

Object facts

• Title: Pair of Boots
• Date: 907–1125
• Culture: Northern China, Liao dynasty (907-1125)
• Type: Textile
• Technique: Silk: tapestry weave; two kinds of metal threads
• Dimensions: Overall: 47.5 x 30.8 cm (18 11/16 x 12 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1993.158

A detail from the museum

The boots have a complete padding and lining, but the soles do not show signs of being worn.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• “1993 Annual Report.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 6 (June 1994): 143–218.
• Wilson, J. Keith, and Anne E. Wardwell. "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 8 (1994): 270-347.
• Wardell, Anne E., "Royal Regalia", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 35 no. 08, October 1995

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.