List of Illustrations

Home , 10th century, 7th century, 8th century, 9th century

FIGURES

I.1. Canopy with beaded rosettes; 7th–8th centuries. 9 1.1. Evolution of the beaded rosette into the Tang floral medallion by author. 18 1.2. Three Sasanian Ambassadors in the Hall of the Ambassadors in Afrāsiyāb; 7th century. Reconstruction by author. 42 2.1. Textile fragment with beaded roundels enclosing a bust of a pseudo-Iranian ruler; 8th century. 48 2.2. Wall painting detail of the Xu Xianxiu’s tomb; 6th century. 49 2.3. Drawing of roundels with hunting scenes from Central Asian and Byzantine textiles by author. 59 2.4. Drawing by author of two types of blossoms on textiles from Astana, 7th–9th centuries. 61 2.5. Rock relief depicting the tree of life. Tāq-ẹ Bostān, Iran; 7th century. 63 2.6. Evolution of the boar’s head into double-axe motifs. 67 2.7. Caftan with repetition of sēnmurw enclosed in a beaded roundel; 9th century. 69 2.8. Textile fragment with palm tree, grapes, and pañcan˙gulika; 8th–10th centuries. 81 3.1. Drawing by author of a Uighur wall painting in Bezeklik Cave 24. 100

ix 3.2. Drawing by author of a mark on the forehead of a Buddha sculpture and the cundī dhāranị̄ mudra. 102 3.3. Four fragments of a saddle cloth; 9th–11th centuries. 104 3.4. Detail of a goddess riding a horse in the Sumstek in Alchi, Ladakh; 11th–13th centuries. 115 3.5. Detail of a libation scene in the Dunkhang in Alchi, Ladakh; 11th–13th centuries. 116 3.6. Detail of an embroidered inscription on a hemp tabby fragment; 9th–11th centuries. 121 4.1. Textile fragment with a grid filled with rosettes, fish-bone motif, dragons, and brocaded lions in lobed roundels; 14th century. 142 4.2. Marble pluteo in the Chapel of Sant Aspreno al Porto in Naples; 9th–10th centuries. 147 4.3. Melusina. Detail of the mosaic floor of the Cathedral of Saint Maria Annunziata, Otranto; 12th century. 149 4.4. Addorsed lions with a single head on the muqarnas ceiling of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, Sicily; 12th century. 155 G.1. Diagram of the three weaving binding systems. 173 G.2. Diagram of a lampas structure. 176 G.3. S-twist and Z-twist. 178 G.4. Diagram of a warp-faced compound structure. 178 G.5. Diagram of a weft-faced tabby structure. 179 G.6. Diagram of a weft-faced twill structure. 179

MAP (following page 172)

1. Northern and Southern Silk Road around the Taklamakan Desert.

x Illustrations PLATES (following page 172)

1. Golden plaque in the shape of a stag from Kul’Oba, Crimea; 5th century BCE. 2. Scythian golden phalerae from Vettersfelde; 5th century BCE. 3. Textile fragment with image of a winged horse; 7th century. 4. Pazyryk carpet; 5th century BCE. 5. Comparison between the stag on the Pazyryk carpet and two later stag on Central Asian textiles. 6. Reconstruction by author of a Uighur banner with two original fragments; 9th–10th centuries. 7. Two textile fragments with roundels including a pair of mirroring hunters; 8th century. 8. Textile fragment with a repetition of the Sasanian king Ḵ osrow II sitting on a throne and a tree of life on each side; 8th–9th centuries. 9. Detail of Emperor Taizong Gives an Audience to the Tibetan Envoy by Yan Liben; 7th century. 10. Detail of a robe with lobed roundels enclosing a pair of facing horses and external crossed felines; 8th–9th centuries. 11. Textile fragment of two lobed roundels enclosing a “Sasanian duck” and reconstruction by author of the missing pattern; 8th–9th centuries. 12. Textile fragment with a standing sēnmurw and reconstruction by author of the missing pattern 8th–9th centuries. 13. Textile fragment with roundels enclosing animals and external galloping horses; 8th–9th centuries. 14. Detail of a textile panel with a roundel enclosing a pair of addorsed griffins; 13th–14th centuries. 15. Textile fragment with small embroidered flowers and flames 8th–10th century. 16. Annunciation with Saint Margaret and Saint Ansanus by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi (1333).

Illustrations xi 17. Microscopic image of a textile patterned with ogives; 13th–14th century. 18. Golden textile with roundels enclosing addorsed lions with wings, and external addorsed griffins; 13th–14th centuries. 19. Lampas fragment with foliage made with supplementary gilded threads, from Central Asia; 13th–14th centuries. 20. Lampas with mirrored and ascending animals. From the funerary clothing of Cangrande I della Scala; 14th century.

xii Illustrations