Download PDF | Sarah E. Braddock Clarke, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo (editors) -Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads_ Journeys between East and West, Past and Present-Bloomsbury Visual Arts (2022).
401 Pages
Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads: Journeys Between East and West, Past and Present represents a true Eastern/ Western meeting, spanning different places and times, much as the Silk Roads did themselves. The civilization of the Byzantine Empire (330 to 1453) represented a fusion of cultures that lasted over 1,100 years and had strong links with the ancient and well-trodden Silk Roads. This book focuses on silk, a material that has held a strong appeal for centuries, and a specific textile technique called ‘samite’ that has its roots in Sassanid Persia (now Iran); this woven structure had a striking presence throughout Byzantium and a wide dissemination. Different experiences form the backbone of this book where texts from international authors are accompanied with compelling images/patterns gathered from an array of sources.
By closely investigating the motifs and their meanings, these relics can be seen to have a contemporary resonance. Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads focuses on the Middle Ages and traces the steps of the Silk Road merchants that spread sericulture from its birthplace in China to the Eastern Mediterranean region and onwards to Western Europe. Encounters took place between such medieval Eurasian cultures with their different ethnicities, disparate histories and seemingly strange customs, traditions, religions and languages. Practised religions of Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Zoroastrianism as well as interests in Greek/Roman mythologies brought forth a variety of aesthetics. Inspiration came from many cultures – Sassanian, Egyptian, Iranian, Greek, Roman, European, British, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
Evocative imagery includes humans – often portrayed in action, animals and birds – real and fantastical, exotic plants and bold geometrics. East and West converge in the metaphoric that speaks a universal visual language and symbolic imagery celebrates Earth while contemplating a spiritual world beyond. Sarah E. Braddock Clarke, fashion design senior lecturer/researcher, and Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo, emerita professor of textile design/history of decoration, have worked together on this book over several years. Author of many publications on textiles and their applications, Sarah E. Braddock Clarke is well known for her insights into East– West cultural connections while Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo has focused her research on Byzantine silk samite and its decorative virtues. Samite is little known, and an aim of this book is to illustrate and discuss its rich history and wide influence.
In preparing this book Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo have travelled extensively, where their imaginations were furthered as they delved into textile histories and absorbed tales of ancient worlds. Immersing themselves in the experiential present, there exists an elasticity in their thinking that pulls them in many directions. Writing this book has certainly involved many journeys, not only with Sarah E. Braddock Clarke’s visits to Asia and Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo’s visits to Europe but also journeys in time that the research necessitates. Desiring the book to have breadth and depth, in keeping with the Byzantine ethos, they invited international writers to share their knowledge, expertise and viewpoints. Some illuminate the Byzantine era, observing its wide spread and far-reaching influence, while others focus on a specific weave structure or particular textile pieces. A co-operative work, this book is a collection of texts by erudite researchers, scholars and experts.
Alluding to Byzantine mosaics, small pieces join to create an entire picture and tell a complete story; individual elements harmoniously come together, as musicians with a composition. With several Japanese authors, this book offers an alternative eastward shift in contrast to a typically Eurocentric view. Co-edited by Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo, who also contribute chapters, the result is a healthy and authoritative mix of dialogues where trans-aesthetics unite. The editors embrace the fact that the United Kingdom is positioned at the Western terminal of the Silk Roads and Japan at the Eastern, reflecting a polar meeting of eyes and minds. These extreme ends are both island nations but neither editors are insular in perspective, but instead take a broad, encompassing view, understanding that what connects us as human beings is creativity and collaboration. This is not a recent phenomenon, as centuries ago, Byzantium considered that art and design interacted within a global realm. Sarah E. Braddock Clarke is originally from Derbyshire where the Derby Silk Museum – Museum of Making is considered the site of the world’s first factory.
Now based in Cornwall, she acknowledges the international trading links of this area’s tin and copper that played significant roles in the development of ancient cultures. Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo has her home in Yokohama, a port city on the Bay of Tokyo, which, after a long period of national isolation, opened to foreign trade in 1859. This port became a centre for international silk trade with a warehouse area that once housed mountains of luxurious silks; the Yokohama Silk Museum traces this history. For over fifteen years Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo has gathered images and information on samite, recording these Byzantine Empire textiles. Here, woven silks from museums, cathedrals, churches and archives from the Far East, the Middle East, the Near East, Western Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America are comprehensively tied together.
The result is a rare and powerful illustrated assembly of sumptuous fabrics that can be viewed in one fell swoop. Ecclesiastical textiles are appraised, archaeological textiles are unearthed and public and private collections opened. Examples of samite have been tracked down and documented including relics found stored in dark cathedral crypts where, unaffected by light damage, they have survived. Highlights include textiles from Japan’s Shōsō-in Treasure House and Italy’s Vatican City. Photographs include close-ups where fine details can be perceived; most of the textiles are in good condition while others, worn down by time, are poignantly fragmented – laid out to envisage their previous union.
The reverse of some are shown, exposing secrets of their structures; a bonus for textile designers and aficionados who invariably turn cloth over to learn more. The ancient trade routes of the Silk Roads are some of the most important cultural and material exchanges throughout world history, linking East and West. In this book, the Silk Roads are studied historically, geographically and culturally, with Eastern Japanese and Western European approaches being presented. Attention is given to aesthetics and conversations – bringing past imagery alive and discussing connections that have contemporary validation; not beholden to history, but where history is essential to ongoing debates. People, their lifestyles, places and processes are discussed along with important cultural, social, political, economic and religious issues that formed the communities. Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads takes the reader through various gateways to understand and appreciate the all-embracing ethos of Byzantium.
This focus allows an appraisal of silk samite, an engaging woven textile that has a poignant relevance in contemporary visual culture. In terms of learning more about textiles and their various applications, such a study is multi-disciplinary, transformative and visionary, where intersections of design and hybridity are apparent. The Byzantine culture lasted over eleven decades, where their generally positive approaches enabled an open-minded, democratic and holistic consolidation.
One of the aims of this book is to increase the installation of global harmony by studying its legendary and long-term success. As well as the distinctions and contrasts between East and West there are also deep-rooted affinities in relation to aesthetics and philosophies. Expressions of identity and society are conveyed in the textiles and fashions to be found in the diverse cultures represented along the Silk Roads. Just as the West enjoyed images of the East, so too did the East desire Western styles, and a merging of both also occurred which can be found in delightful juxtapositions.
In John M. Steadman’s 1969 book titled The Myth of Asia he puts forward the idea of the underlying similarities of civilization between East and West, writing that they are not necessarily to be viewed in opposition. He presents three Asias: the cultural complex of China and Japan, that of India and its related cultures, and Islam, as the closest to the West. He states: ‘In the European civilizations that dominated the Mediterranean and the Near East in classical antiquity and the Middle Ages – the Hellenistic, the Roman and the Byzantine – the distinction between Europe and Asia became increasingly meaningless.’1 Following these ventures from the East to the West the mystery unravels of the ever-moving Byzantine culture. Worlds of other lands and imaginations is presented to intrigue and entice and the reader can immerse themselves in the beautiful textiles and conjure up the distant places of their origin.
The fabrics grab attention, draw in and encourage the reader to learn more about the artisans that created them. Byzantium is brought to life to reveal a melting pot of ideas that inspire and influence; not a typical history of textiles, this book, with its profusion of visually stimulating imagery and patterns, has a visceral slant where romance, poetry, mystery and soul are deeply felt. Byzantine Silk on the Silk Roads, with its crosscultural aesthetics, is intended as a visual stimulus and resource for artists, designers, students and professionals, across many design sectors including textiles, fashion, interiors, graphics, computer games, product design, fine art and film.
This book adds to the worldwide interest in a Byzantine culture that operated outside of rules, regulations and conventions with an adventurous and dynamic spirit. It is proposed that the East and the West have much to learn from each other; positive cultural assimilation is key, as distinct from cultural appropriation. Between these pages lies the influence of the beautiful, yet oftentimes controversial, Byzantine era that celebrates humankind’s divergencies and similarities. Ideas are put forward for the bettering of futures, where prime historical examples are understood and implemented. Important links between history and the contemporary arena are made and a sense of unity offered to a world witnessing social and political polarization.
This academic book by textile/fashion enthusiasts, knowledgeable in both the historic and the contemporary, has been thoroughly researched and offers distinct voices from its contributors. This was a book waiting to be written and, we hope, will have great historic value by way of the information and imagery divulged. It is interesting to note that silk still seduces and the ancient Silk Roads continue to intrigue. The contents herein present parallels with the past and the present, the East and the West, the living and the dead. It is hoped that this publication will confirm the legacy of Byzantine silk samite as expressions and communications of creative individuals within strong communities through the ages. Here, these silks are brought to the attention of a twenty-first-century audience to ensure their brilliance does not fade. Why do we travel? What gives us the urge to do so? Humans are social beings; is it therefore an exchange of ideas? Is it the potential for romance and the thrill of adventure? Does the lure of far-flung lands compel us? Is it the moving into unknown territories?
Is it the seeking out of distractions and changes from our quotidian existences where routines can take over and dampen spirits? Is it to expand our sense of self? Explorer and travel writer, Dame Freya Madeline Stark reflected on her adventures and meeting people: ‘The love of learning is, indeed, a pleasant and universal bond, since it deals with what one is and not with what one has.’2 Travel writer and novelist Colin Thubron eloquently describes our wish to seek out other places, other peoples: Sometimes a journey arises out of hope and instinct, the heady conviction, as your finger travels along the map: Yes, here and here … and here. These are the nerve-ends of the world … A hundred reasons clamour for your going. You go to touch on human identities, to people an empty map. You have a notion that this is the world’s heart. You go to encounter the protean shapes of faith. You go because you are still young and crave excitement, the crunch of your boots in the dust; you go because you are old and need to understand something before it’s too late. You go to see what will happen.
Byzantine arts and crafts developed over a period of more than 1,100 years, but were dispersed when the Byzantine Empire came to an end, with very few historical materials now remaining. Despite their high aesthetic value, incorporating elements from both East and West, this situation has made it difficult to systematically understand and properly assess them. Thinking of history as a continuous stream of present periods of time, this book considers Byzantine decoration from a current-day perspective. Its particular focus is on figured brocade created using the state-of-the-art weaving techniques of the period.
The silk textiles that represent the splendour of Byzantine art had a wide-ranging influence on society in medieval Western Europe. Byzantine decoration became the most advanced fashion of the time. The Byzantine figured brocade that inspired so much envy was marked by originality that outshone textiles produced in other regions. The compositions of the figures were bold, luxurious and flamboyant; moreover, they incorporated witty and ingenious elements that delighted everyone who saw them. Rather than attempting to achieve perfection of naturalistic representation, figures were altered to express the impression of the subject as perceived, capturing the hearts and minds of viewers. This uninhibited approach is a universal starting point for art, and can be seen as common to both these brocades and today’s contemporary art and design.
The figured brocade of the Byzantine era that was dispersed around the world is now to be found in the collections of museums, church treasuries and archives. Quality silk brocade of the Byzantine period was said to be worth more than its weight in gold, and a substantial proportion of the extant examples are known to have been plundered from the Fourth Crusade. Many fragments are displayed in art museums and churches associated with the Crusaders. The techniques spread first to the Arab and Islamic worlds after the eighth century, later reaching Italy from Spain. From the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, the political power of Roman Catholic popes and bishops grew.
They sought decorative textiles and vestments appropriate for their status, and they seem to have occasionally placed orders for silk brocade from Byzantium, Spain and Central Asia. During the same period, brocades were also produced to meet orders from wealthy secular individuals. As a result, brocades with Byzantine influence produced in Central Asia exist around the world today. Also remaining, and of the same period, are many small fragments that were used as currency in the same way as coins.
For over a decade, author Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo visited institutions around the world to research Byzantineera silks, and has accumulated images and documents with the cooperation of each institution. Research into individual collections has been in process for the last 100 years, and some of the older documentation is now in need of revision. This body of research provided data relating to the origins of each collection as well as data relating to organization charts of textiles and the fragment shapes.
An aim of this publication is to produce a comprehensive compilation of this information, providing as far as possible an overall picture of silk textiles from the Byzantine era. Many specialist books about Byzantine silk textiles, including those by Otto von Falke, Julius Lessing, Raymond Cox and Gaston Migeon, were published before the Second World War, but apart from those by Anna Muthesius, no publications providing a substantial overview have been published in the post-war period. Most publications on the history of textiles say a limited amount about the Byzantine era, and many tend to present the same fragments to illustrate the period. In order to gain an overall picture of Byzantine-era figured brocade and to verify the information provided, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo analysed and categorized details of the figures on the fragments seen in the collections covered by her research.
The findings of research conducted by museums were of great assistance during that process. Next, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo delved into questions of how the highly original, beautiful and varied patterns of Byzantine silks were formed, and how such incomparable splendour influenced and spread to neighbouring regions. With reference to the figured brocade production dates specified in documents concerning their history left by earlier researchers, the historical context for such characteristics was also studied. This research resulted in the Chronological Charts of Civilizations and Textiles that stretches over several pages of this book. In order to appraise the historical in the light of the twenty-first century, author Sarah E. Braddock Clarke discusses the influence of the Byzantine era as being alive and relevant. She demonstrates that these visually appealing woven silk designs with their emphasis on the mythical and the imaginative inspire today’s diverse and eclectic creative world. An approach that merges East and West influences is evidenced by rich and varied imagery that indicates the borderless terrains along the Silk Roads.
The multi-faceted attractions of Byzantine silks are further clarified by the contributions of experts with deep knowledge of specific fields. Regarding China, Sae Ogasawara, the supervising editor of Chugoku Kinuorimono Zenshi (Seven Thousand Years of Chinese Costumes), provides a brief history of silk in China from its origins to the stage when brocades took form. Warp-faced weaving techniques transmitted to Japan at the eastern end of the Silk Road in the eighth century are still used by the Imperial Household today for official events. The current weaver and a specialist in the history of decorative textiles, Shizuo Takata, offers a description of such weaving as it is performed today. For comparison, a chapter has been included on Sassanian silks, which were produced by an imperial power competing with Byzantium. For a broad perspective, Tomoyuki Masuda, who has written many books on Byzantine art, presents an article about the close relationship between Byzantine art and silk textiles. For the main theme of Byzantine brocades, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo has produced a description of how these textiles developed and changed over the centuries, incorporating many images.
This examines how the brocades varied in accordance with the climate, the natural features and the religious and social contexts of each location involved in that process of propagation. It also describes how the figured brocades favoured by persons in authority changed greatly according to their tastes. Textile researcher Kazuko Yokohari gives details of how the circumstances and techniques behind silk brocades developed as they passed along the Silk Roads. Descriptions of the Islamic silks that resulted from a sudden transformation of Byzantine silks in the Arab and Islamic world from the eighth century are provided in a chapter by Louise W. Mackie, the author of Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th to 21st Century. Furthermore, textile researcher Sílvia Saladrigas Cheng contributes a chapter on the lampas silk fabric techniques of Spain and Italy that resulted from transmission via the Islamic world during the Late Medieval period.
The texts on medieval brocades are followed by details of collections at thirty-three locations, including art museums, cathedral treasuries, churches and libraries, consisting primarily of photographs and documents. Where these collections have specific origins, such as at the Louvre Museum, Paris, curators working on the collection have graciously provided descriptions. If a document has already been published, it is included here. In addition, a study is presented that focuses on figures typical of the Byzantine era and associated fragments to investigate transformations over time. Such fragments are examined in detail to explore their origins.
A number of contemporaneous images of clothing and decorative textiles in use still exist, and these are also shown here, providing practical hints as to how the silk textiles were actually used. Finally, Ryoko Yamanaka Kondo writes about textiles in the Shoˉsoˉ-in repository that have been carefully preserved for over 1,000 years as a part of Japan’s Imperial collection. An outline of how such textiles were reproduced for use in today’s circumstances is given in a chapter by Kiyoshi Tatsumura, who is involved in their recreation. The examination of figured brocades in this publication goes beyond the history of textiles, extending to art history and the history of the medieval period, in order to provide a comprehensive consideration of the functions of silk brocades in the Byzantine era.
The clothing worn by the kings and queens, emperors and empresses, courtiers and priests who took centre stage in society at that time had a different role from that of the contemporary fashion world. The analysis of silk brocades through an investigation of compositions, colours, textures and techniques produces a picture of the detailed material differences between each individual period. This analysis has the potential to provide new clues to understanding the characteristics of each. Specifically, the wealth of information conveyed by the shapes and forms of figured brocades can be expected to help in understanding movements in medieval Eurasian cultures. Furthermore, the witty and boldly executed Byzantine figures are still perceived as attractive to a broad swathe of contemporary society, and it is proposed that they can provide new stimulus to those working in creative sectors currently.
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