DEER LAMPAS FRAGMENT WITH FACING DEER, SAMITE SILK, CENTRAL - Lot 46

DEER LAMPAS FRAGMENT WITH FACING DEER, SAMITE SILK, CENTRAL ASIA, 8th-9th CENTURY. This fragment of a deer lampas, woven in red, green, blue and honey "samite" silk, is decorated with an animal motif of deer facing each other in beaded medallions, separated by birds. 52 x 34 cm. Provenance: Private collection, Paris. These beaded medallions are directly linked to Persian and Chinese traditions. This elegant textile, like the lots that follow, bears witness to the style and refinement so particular to Sogdian production, charged with cultural symbolism and references to the great ancient civilizations. Another fragment with an almost identical pattern is held at the Mteropolitan Museum in New York (38.147), attributed to Iran and dating from the 8th-9th centuries. Another is published in Francesca Galloway's London catalog: 'Textile Splendours of the East', 24th June - 26th July, 2019, p.9, Cat.5, described as Sogdian and dating from the early 7th century.