Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads

Journeys between East and West, Past and Present

Sarah E. Braddock Clarke, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo, Sarah E. Braddock Clarke, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781350099326
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Fashion Design

With over 200 color illustrations, Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads examines in detail the eclectic iconography of the Byzantine period and its impact on design and creativity today. Through an examination of the extraordinary variety of designs in these captivating silks, an international team of experts reveal that Byzantine culture was ever-moving and open to diverse influences across the length of the Silk Road. Commentaries from curators at key collections – including the Museum of Arts, Boston, the Smithsonian (Cooper Hewitt), the V&A and the Vatican – reveal the spread of silk embroidery and designs from East to West, and from West to East, from China to Rome, and from Constantinople to Korea. Drawing on exclusive imagery from worldwide collections within museums, churches and archives as case studies, their analysis of these unique woven silks explores the relationship between color and power, material culture and status, and offers broader insight into Byzantine culture, trade, society and ceremony. Byzantine Silk … takes us on a journey from the past to the present, too, where Byzantine story-telling and image-making is revisited, through color, imagery and pattern, in contemporary fashion collections. Exploring Byzantine culture through a contemporary filter, the book shows how the Byzantine era still influences textile and fashion designers today in their choices of materials and colors, and their utilization of images and patterns, acting as a unique source of inspiration to designers and creators in the 21st century.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Silk Along the Silk Roads: Diversity and Eclecticism: Sarah E. Braddock Clarke
• 2 Ancient Chinese Silk Textiles: Focusing on Warp-faced Silks: Sae Ogasawara
• 3 A Study of Sassanian Brocade: Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo
• 4 Byzantine Brocades: A Contribution from Art History: Dr Tomoyuki Masuda
• 5 The Spread of Byzantine Silk Samite Towards the Jacquard Loom: Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo
• 6 Four Categories of Ancient and Medieval Classical Figured Textiles: Considering Technical Innovations in the Prologue to the World History of Ancient and Medieval Figured Weaves: Dr Kazuko Yokohari
• 7 Islamic Textiles: Louise W. Mackie
• 8 On Medieval Lampas: Textiles in the Iberian Peninsula from the Al-Andalus Period: Sílvia Saladrigas Cheng
• 9 Byzantine Court Dress: Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo
• 10 Collections of Museums, Cathedrals and Churches: Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo with Dominique Bénazeth, Toko Hirayama, Dr Rei Ito, Anne Hedeager Krag, Esclarmonde Monteil, Elena Ota, Alexandra Van Puyvelde, Kimberly Randall, Yoko Tanaka and Monica Vroon
• 11 Pattern and Colour in the Byzantine Empire: Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo
• 12 The Spread of Silk to Japan: Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo
• 13 Warp-faced Brocade in Japan: Warp-faced Brocade in Japan
• 14 Ancient Textiles Preserved in Japan, Reborn: Kiyoshi Tatsumura
• Byzantine Samite: Chronological Charts of Civilizations and Textiles
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• List of Illustrations
• Index
• eCopyright