Printmaking · Animals · Catalog HV6FWM8N

Embroidery with Birds

Unknown creator · 700s-800s

These engaging little birds are embroidered in a naturalistic style that developed during the 8th and 9th centuries. All but one are oriented away from the central pair that flanks a tulip growing from a hill. Contrasting with the spontaneity of the birds is the structured pattern of the silk ground—rosettes within a lozenge grid. Such contrasts frequently occur among embroideries of the Tang dynasty. Also characteristic of embroideries from that period is the use of discrete