Content:
In Kucha on the Northern Silk Road, many paintings, especially the donor images, but in two cases also the decoration of the cave, show a pattern of pearl roundels. They obviously refer to patterned textiles, possibly silk. Among the mostly unfilled beaded medallions, which cannot easily be assigned to a concrete model of a textile sample, there are only two examples showing a bird inserted into a row or grid of pearl roundels with connecting crescent roundels (Kizil 60, Toghrakeken 11). In addition, three donors wear a caftan with crescent roundels filling the trim or the entire main fabric (Kizil 8). Which textiles could it be? The only comparable and unusual find from Kucha is a samite silk showing birds in a diamond net with connecting crescent roundels (MG 26612). This find is classified as a later development from the mid-8th century. Other examples of the bird roundel, even closer to painting, are also samite silks. They are dated to the early 7th century, the beginning of this new weaving technique, and are productions from Central Asia (including Astana and Dulan). In contrast, the motif of single crescent roundels can best be compared with silks from Astana woven as taqueté.
The painted representation of bird and crescent roundels in Kucha indicates an exceptionally early date around 600 CE, which later spread throughout Eurasia. The talk presents graphic reconstructions of the patterns and examines their compositional and iconographic features in comparison with the characteristics and differences of taqueté and samite silks of the same design. What insights does this provide on the relationship of Kucha to neighbouring regions such as Iran, Sogdiana, Turfan, and China, which were instrumental in the production and exchange of these early silks?
Keywords:
Silk Road, Kucha wall paintings, textile representations, taqueté, samite