Collection Online as of June 3, 2023

Pair of Boots

907–1125

Part of a set. See all set records

Northern China, Liao dynasty

(907-1125)

Silk: tapestry weave; two kinds of metal threads

Overall: 47.5 x 30.8 cm (18 11/16 x 12 1/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1993.158

Location

not on view

Description

This magnificent pair of boots, made of finely woven silk tapestry (kesi), features two phoenixes in flight chasing a flaming pearl. Although the bright colors of the fabric have become muted from being buried in a tomb and the gold threads are partly disintegrated, the once lavish use of gold and the Chinese-inspired phoenix motif suggest that the boots were made for a member of the Liao imperial family, probably a woman. At the time the boots were made in the Khitan-occupied territory in northern China, footbinding was introduced among upper-class women in southern China. The high value the Khitan people accorded to boots relates to their mobile, seminomadic lifestyle.

Citations

Wilson, J. Keith, and Anne E. Wardwell. "New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 8 (1994): 270-347. Reproduced: p. 325; Mentioned: p. 325-28, 347 www.jstor.org

Wardell, Anne E., "Royal Regalia", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 35 no. 08, October 1995 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 7 archive.org

Watt, James C. Y., Anne E. Wardwell, and Morris Rossabi. When silk was gold: Central Asian and Chinese textiles. 1997. pp. 87-90, reproduced in color, p. 87, detail repr. p. 88, figure 30

Watt, James C. Y, Anne E Wardwell, Anne E Wardwell, Morris Rossabi, Cleveland Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Morris Rossabi, Cleveland Museum of Art, and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art in cooperation with the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1997. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 87-90, no. 23

Cunningham, Michael R. Masterworks of Asian art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: p. 48 - 49

Spee, Clarissa von. "From the SIlk Road to the Imperial Court: Chinese Textiles in the Cleveland Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 48, no. 3(May-June 2018): 50-56. Reproduced: p. 51, fig. 2

Müller, Kathrin. Musterhaft naturgetreu: Tiere in Seiden, Zeichnungen und Tapisserien des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2020. Reproduced: P. 58, abb. 14

Exhibition history

Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994).

When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian & Chinese Textiles from the Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (organizer) (March 2-May 17, 1998).

The Splendor of Chinese Silk – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 5-August 12, 2018).