CHINESE FABRICS

to the shape of the larger pines, these are then sewn together withsuch precision that the sewing is imperceptible. Nos. i, 2, plate 15,are good examples of the Cashmere pine on the smaller shawls ofcotton and silk, and No. 3, plate 16, of a small silk and wool scarf.

The characteristic feature of Indian patterning is the typicalMohammedan division into definite ornamental spaces or shapes,which are filled with a decorative treatment of floral forms, such asthe Date or Horn, the Pine, the Iris, the Lotus, and the Rosette.The pine is treated occasionally as a single flower, but morefrequently as a cluster of flowers, which still retains the distinctiveform of the pine (plates 15, 16, and 93).

This decorative representation of the inflorescence of plants andtrees, selected, doubtless, for their significance as symbols of life, istypical not only of Indian, but of all Eastern art, differing only inthe mode of interpretation and arrangement of pattern.

In Indian art, symmetry and alternation play an importantpart in the arrangement of pattern, with a somewhat conventionalor formal treatment of the floral forms, as compared with the morefrank interpretation in Persian art.

The Siamese textile designs frequently correspond in type withthose of India, but with a greater insistence upon the triangle anddiagonal line in the planning of patterned fabrics. No. 1, plate 16, isa characteristic example of Siamese design.

The great development of Indian cotton printing during the16th to 19th centuries has naturally caused many fine representativeexamples of Indian design to be produced in that class of fabric,and specimens are illustrated in that section (plates 88 and 90-94).

CHINESE

The woven silk fabrics of China have a splendid reputationfor beauty and richness of material and distinctive patterning. Thetradition of the art of weaving, in China, is lost in the mists ofantiquity, yet the textures and patterning of to-day undoubtedlyretain many of the characteristic features of the past.

Abundant references are found in the Chinese medieval literature,descriptive of the types of patterns woven upon the fabrics of theearlier dynasties.

A Chinese book, written in the latter part of the Ming Dynasty(A.D. 1 386-1628), speaks of the ancient silk brocades of the HanDynasty (B.C. 206-A.D. 220), which had designs of dragons, birds,and flowers.

It is recorded that in the 3rd century a.d., the Chinese Emperor,

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