Book Cover (Shishikari-mon Nishiki)

This is a modified design from a brocade of the "Beaded Medallions Enclosing Four Mounted Lion Hunters", designated as the National Treasure, preserved in Horyu-ji temple in Nara, Japan since the 7th century. The original design consists of two pairs of kings mounting on horsebacks and shooting lions which are symmetrically placed on each side of a flowering tree in a pearl roundel that is the characteristic of Sassanian Dynasty of Persia. We have attempted to transfer the ambitious theme of the ancient brocade to a warp-patterned brocade in a new design eliminating the flowering tree, and depicting only one hunter and a lion, but adding gorgeous blossom design surrounding the roundels.