Han Dynasty Pillow in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2017

Pillow

Object Details

Period: Eastern Han dynasty (25–220)

Culture: China

Medium: Woven silk jin (warp-faced compound plain weave)

Dimensions: incl. tassels at corners: 7 1/2 × 13 3/8 × 1 in. (19 × 34 × 2.5 cm)
without tassels: 6 11/16 × 11 13/16 in. (17 × 30 cm)

Classification: Textiles

Credit Line: Lent by Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology


This pillow was unearthed from a site of the Jingjue state, which once existed at the northwest frontier of China. The fabric illustrates the highly sophisticated technique of five-color woven silk. Although the weave perpetuates an earlier Western Han tradition, the incorporation of more than two or three colors represents an advancement. Also exceptional are the characters interwoven among the stylized clouds. Though fragmentary here, the full inscription reads, “may a marriage between nobles prosper for a thousand autumns and ten thousand years and benefit sons and grandsons”.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/719115