Page 28 - Chiense TExtiles, MET MUSEUM Pub 1934

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
In connection with the Sung brocades, which, as we
have already said, may be found on the mounts of some
Sung kakemono and in the coverings of Japanese tea
utensils, we should add that we seem to have here also
the earliest known examples of the satin weave, since
these are satin brocades. It is easy to believe that the

FIG. 2. DETAIL OF TilE EMPEROR's SACRIFICIAL ROBE
SHOWN IN FIGURE 2I

weave originated in China, because the satin technique
is a short step from the figured silks of the Han dynasty,
which have much the appearance of satin and which are
frequently so called, though wrongly. To the Yuan dy-
nasty, however, seems to go the credit for introducing
the satin weave into Europe. It was during the thir-
teenth century that the Mongols under Genghis Khan
extended their power all the way across Asia into Eu-
r8