Page 28 - Chiense TExtiles, MET MUSEUM Pub 1934
P. 28

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
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