Phoenix and Tree Peony (1300s): Art, History and Details

Phoenix and Tree Peony (1300s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This needle-loop embroidery is distinguished by its exceptionally fine execution. Few other examples incorporate the variety of intricate diaper patterns seen here. Like most needle-loop embroideries, the phoenix is fragmentary. Rows of loops worked over pieces of gilded or silvered paper make needle-loop embroidery quite heavy. On the other hand, the ground fabrics upon which they were executed were usually lightweight silks. Unable to support the embroidery, they simply wore out over time.

Object facts

• Title: Phoenix and Tree Peony
• Date: 1300s
• Culture: China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) - Ming dynasty (1368-1644)
• Type: Embroidery
• Technique: Silk and silver thread: needle-loop embroidery, silvered paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 24.4 x 17.6 cm (9 5/8 x 6 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Textiles
• Department: Textiles
• Accession number: 1992.95

Collection credit

Gift of David Tremayne

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79.
• 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.
• Chung, Young Yang. Silken Threads: A History of Embroidery in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. New York: H.N. Abrams, 2005.

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.