Dashi-fukusa Cloth (Tea-things) (Taiko-mon Nishiki)

The brocade here was reproduced and adapted from a warp-patterned textile of H'ang times excavated from Noin-Ula, near Lake Baikal. The open and hook-shaped motives repeated diagonally are extremely abstract animals whose details enable us to imagine in various ways such things as a long neck divided into two, a whirling head and a small double wing and a tail. In such a manner, this is a characteristic expression and is a theme for further investigation in future. This piece is one of those reproduced from textiles preserved i n the Hermitage by courtesy of the Museum.