Fragment of Textile with Design of Scrolling Lotus Flowers, Stems, and Leaves

This textile fragment depicts rows of lotus blossoms enclosed within curling vines with colorful leaves. In the technique of swivel-weave satin used here, the foundation weave of silk satin is supplemented by discontinuous silk wefts to form the patterns on the fabric. These are bordered by woven edges in flat gold thread. Responding to market demands, Chinese workshops produced textiles for Tibet with late Ming dynasty designs. These fabrics, with their oversized repeating patterns, required fewer adjustments when sewn into Tibetan-style robes than those with dragons or other small-scale designs. This fabric may have been made for presentation to a Tibetan religious leader of a specific monastery.