CONTEXTBOOKS

BOOKS

The two most recent publications on ancient Central Asian from the Abegg Stiftung will prove to be, says Nancy Arthur

RIGGISBERGER BERICHTE 9 CENTRAL ASIAN TEXTILES AND THEIR CONTEXTS IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES Edited by Regula Schorta, with contributions by Boris I. Marshak, Valentina Raspopova, Kazuko Yokohari, Zhao Feng, Regula Schorta et al Abegg-Stiftung, Riggisberg 2006 English & German text, 316pp., 240 illustrations, glossary, bibliography ISBN 390501419X Softbound, SF85

Review: Nancy Arthur Hoskins

The contributions to the colloquium held in Riggisberg in 1999 focus on the art history of Central Asia. Various avenues of research bring about new perspectives on textile art of the early Middle Ages from Sogdia and the Tarim Basin, Tibet and central China. This richly illustrated volume is completed by reports of new findings in China, some of which are here presented to the public for the first time. Glorious garments adorn a male mummy discovered at Yingpan (right), a 2nd to 5th century AD, East-West, North-South crossing on one of the Silk Road routes. A serene white mask with a gold headband covers the mummy’s head as it rests on a silk pillow with swirling embroidered motifs. The knee-length red and yellow robe he wears is fashioned from an ornately patterned woollen double-weave fabric. Different registers in the design have pairs of hunters holding lances, knives, nets, and shields; paired rams and oxen in addorsed poses; and rows of pomegranate trees. Western influence is evident in the facial features and classical pose of the nearly naked but caped figures. A multi-coloured taqueté panel with a floral motif further decorates the robe. His skirt, sleeves, and shoes are equally interesting. Other fabrics were found in Yingpan burials: a woollen pile carpet remnant with a crouching lion, a silk warp-faced compound tabby with Chinese characters, tapestry bands, and silks embellished with gold foil. Some Yingpan citizens were elegantly dressed. These textiles are just a few of the many that are discussed, analysed and illustrated in glowing colour in Central Asian Textiles and Their Contexts in the Early Middle Ages. Not only are the featured fabrics from Silk Road sites, but also included in the investigation of early medieval textiles are related examples from Antinöe in Egypt; Nara in Japan; and other museum collections. These archaeological textiles raise as many questions as answers. Who made them? Where were they made? Were they made where they were found? When were they made? How were such complex textiles made? What types of looms were used? Why was it important to create such sumptuous silks and wonderfully patterned woollens? An impressive international group of textile scholars met at a 1999 colloquium sponsored by the AbeggStiftung Institute in Riggisberg to seek answers to these puzzling questions. Their papers, deftly edited by Regula Schorta, copy editor Susanne Hohmann, and English editor John Stevenson, are published in this book. The one chapter in German ends with a summary in English. The 19 authors’ varied areas of expertise and subject matter make each chapter a stand-alone story. Some focus on art history or archaeology, others deal with fibres, dyes, looms, or style. All are tied together by the criss-cross migration of textile technology and material from East to West and West to East over the Silk Road. It is a story of commerce and conquest revealed in burials by recent research. The book’s modest white fold-over cover with one colour illustration resembles others of the Riggisberger Berichte series, but oh what textile treasures are inside!

180HALI ISSUE 151