An exploration of how precious textiles and luxury objects circulated along the Silk Roads, shaping cosmopolitan court culture from the seventh through ninth centuries.
Between the seventh and ninth centuries, Eurasian empires participated in a shared cosmopolitan sphere. Across the Silk Roads, the circulation of textile luxury goods structured systems of recognition, diplomacy, and exchange through which courts understood and transformed one another. Moving across cultures and courts through systems of trade, tribute, and diplomatic gifting, rarely seen objects of highest quality showcased in this book functioned as portable wealth, binding courts through relationships of alliance, obligation, and prestige. 
Within this interconnected world Precious Fabrics positions early Tibetan material culture as a critical site of transformation. By presenting a wide variety of media, including metalwork, silks, and painting, Tibetan court culture emerges as an important space of interaction and exchange.
This book discusses and deepens our understanding of:

• Central Asian Silks
• Gold and Silver Banquet ware 
• The Royal Hunt in Central Asia
• Royal Patronage and Buddhism

Contributing essays by Zhao Feng provide new insight into the technical and material aspects of a precious eighth-century silk set—a highlight in the book—and by David Pritzker explore how imported material and motifs in Central Asia and Tibet permeate cultures to become a distinct visual language of kingship.
Distributed for the Cleveland Museum of Art
Exhibition schedule:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
(April 25–September 5, 2027)