textile fragment with Sassanian goose motif
Central Asia
age unknown, probably 7th-9th century
woven silk
34 x 46 cm
The quintessential Silk Road artifact, this silk textile fragment, probably from a Chinese or Sogdian burial of a person of high rank, is decorated with a goose motif that is Sassanian (pre-Islamic Persian) in origin. Although Sassanian political control did not reach beyond the Pamir Mountains in Central Asia, the cultural influence of the Sassanian Empire (AD 224-651) extended far into East Asia. Sassanian goods, including silver, glass, brocades, and other items, decorated with Sassanian motifs, were carried east, and traded, along the ancient Silk Road. Sassanian motifs were then often adopted by Chinese craftsmen as ornamentation in wall painting, silk weaving, and other local industries.
One example is the Sassanian motif of the goose or duck carrying a string of beads, a jeweled pendant, a garland, or a sash in its beak. This motif appeared in the wall paintings at Kizil, a Buddhist cave temple complex, dating from the 3rd to 8th centuries, along the caravan route skirting the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang Province, China. See the example below in the Museum of Indian Art, Berlin. The motif also appeared in Chinese silk textiles, where it was known as zeniao, or the "gnawing bird" pattern. and was restricted to the garments of high-ranking court officials.
