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Chinese

Altar cloth, 1368-1644

Description

Maker

  • Unknown

Culture

Chinese

Title

Altar cloth

Year

1368-1644

Medium

Silk tapestry weave (kesi) with metallic-wrapped thread

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • silk

Dimensions

144.2 cm (56 13/16 inches) (length)

Type

  • Textiles

Credit

Gift of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Object Number

35.434

About

This hanging was created using the slit-tapestry technique known as kesi or ko'ssu, a term translated as “carved silk.” Thought to have originated in Central Asia, this technique has been used by weavers in China for centuries, as it allows them to “paint” complex pictorial designs through the painstaking hand-manipulation of extremely fine silk weft yarns. The resulting textiles are very strong and durable.

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Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Altar cloth with the accession number of 35.434. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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