The square is embroidered with a rich assortment of animals and birds amid flowers. Clockwise from top left are a wild goose, a parrot, a phoenix, and a pheasant. At the four sides are a spotted horse, a standing deer, a reclining spotted deer, and a rabbit. In the center are a lotus and a trefoil water plant. Flowers include camellia, poppy, tree and herbaceous peonies, hibiscus, and rose of Sharon. The brightly colored designs are mainly in float stitch, with occasional details in laid work and stems in chain stitch. Technically, this work is closely related to embroidery fragments found by Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot in Chinese Central Asia and dated to the ninth century. Similar embroideries came from early tenth-century sites in southern China. The Central Asian connection is suggested by the overall pattern of animals and birds on a floral ground and by the animals' treatment and postures-particularly the backward glance. Spotted animals, especially horses and deer, are favorite Central Asian subjects. A carbon-14 test indicated a date of the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, which is in general agreement with the technical and stylistic dating.
- Active Media Group: