Early Carpets And Tapestries On The Eastern Silk Road

A mystifying group of carpets and tapestries created along the Silk Route over 500 years ago is the topic of this richly illustrated book. The carpets and tapestries with riveting yet puzzling designs have been preserved in closed treasure houses in Kyoto, the former Japanese capital, since the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. They are brought out only one day a year for a Shinto-Buddhist festival procession and quickly returned to storage. This book is about their shrouded origin in China, the pariahs who wove them, the meaning of their obscure motifs, and the reasons for the secrecy continuing to surround their exhibition. The carpets and tapestries with riveting yet puzzling designs have been preserved in closed treasure houses in the former Japanese capital since the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. They are brought out only one day a year for a Shinto-Buddhist festival procession and quickly returned to storage. This book is about their shrouded origin in China, the pariahs who wove them, the meaning of their obscure motifs, and the reasons for the secrecy continuing to surround their exhibition. Early Carpets and Tapestries on the Eastern Silk Road is written by Gloria Granz Gonick, Art Historian and Research Associate at The Fowler Museum at UCLA, former Guest Curator for Matsuri Japanese Festival Arts, and former Museum Curator for the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum. She has studied the collections and their intriguing past over the past two decades during multiple research visits to China and Japan. The sites in Asia where the carpets and tapestries were created centuries ago, and over two hundred exemplary artworks have been photographed in color, and documented for this fascinating volume. A Collection of Carpets and Painted Wool Tapestries; The Two Mystery The Pile Carpets and Painted Tapestries; The Search for Provenance; The Painted Tapestries Preserved in China; Manichaeanism - The Religion Of Light, Vegetarianism; The Challenge in Time, Space, and Terminology; Chinese Minority Costumes and The Monguor; Painter-devotees in Northwest Murals and Mandala; Features of the Carpets and Painted Tapestries Preserved in Japan; Manichaen Motifs Depicted on the Carpets And Painted Tapestries; Painted Tapestries ( crane tapestries ) Produced in China's Southern Coastal Towns; Conclusions. About the Author Early Carpets and Tapestries on the Eastern Silk Road was authored by Gloria Granz Gonick, Art Historian and Research Associate at The Fowler Museum at UCLA. She is a former Visiting Curator for Matsuri! Japanese Festival Arts at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, and also former Museum Curator for the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum. She has studied the collections of early carpets and textiles kept in Kyoto and their history over the past two decades during multiple research visits to Japan and China. The sites in Asia where the carpets and tapestries were created centuries ago, and over 200 illustrative artifacts have been photographed in color, and documented for this valuable volume. Contents Foreword by John E. Vollmer 6 Author’s Introduction 8 1. ‘Foreign’ Textiles in Kyoto 10 2. Historical, Religious and Cultural Context 18 3. The Mystery Collections 24 4. The Search for Provenance 48 5. Ink-Painted Tapestries in China 66 6. Mani and the Religion of Light 76 7. Manichaean Motifs 86 8. Time, Space and Terminology 98 9. The Monguor 104 10. Characteristics of the Kyoto Tapestries 128 11. Painted Tapestries on China’s Southern Coast 138 12. Conclusions 156 13. Wutun Paintings by John E. Hatherley 160 Acknowledgements 164 Image credits 165 Bibliography 166 Index 169 Foreword / John E. Vollmer -- Introduction -- 1. 'foreign' Textiles In Kyoto -- 2. Historical, Religious And Cultural Context -- 3. The Mystery Collections -- 4. The Search Fro Provenance -- 5. Ink-painted Tapestries In China -- 6. Mani And The Religion Of Tibet -- 7. Manichaean Motifs -- 8. Time, Space And Terminology -- 9. The Monguor -- 10. Characteristics Of The Kyoto Tapestries -- 11. Painted Tapestries On China's Southern Coast -- 12. Conclusions -- 13. Wutun Paintings / John E. Hatherley. Gloria Gonick. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 166-168) And Index. "This book gives a background to the Tibetan Region but focuses entirely on Amdo and Kham, which are located in the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai... The aim of the text is to describe the changing contemporary secular clothing and ornaments of Tibetan, Tu and Mongolian nomads and farmers"-- Introduction, page 8 A mystifying group of carpets and tapestries created along the Silk Route over five hundred years ago is the topic of this richly illustrated book.