299:. However, within this group is a subset, including the trims on the caftan, that is probably of purely local origin. "Fragments of this very circumscribed group have so far not been unearthed beyond sites in the northwestern Caucasus. ... Within the range of "Sogdian" they are technically much inferior to the rest of the material, in both dyeing and weaving." Safflower red dye, especially, degrades rapidly, but all of the dyes used in the silk borders are of poor quality. The circle-and-cross designs are simplified, and the roundels themselves vary in size and shape. All of these factors suggest rural production, likely intended for export.
58:
251:, and the upper body and skirts were assembled and trimmed separately before being joined at the waist. "Overall, the high quality of the linen cloth, garment design, cutting, assembling, and sewing demonstrated remarkable professional coordination in comparison with ontemporaneous examples from other cultures, attesting to this region's elevated standards in artistic and technical achievements regarding textile culture and perhaps even social decorum.'
260:
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275:(weft-faced compound twill weave) patterned silks. One textile is used for the lapels and the outer border of the lower panels, and the second for the inner border of the lower panels. Both would be visible when the garment was worn. The silk borders are pieced (one from three different bolts of the same general design). They are padded with
244:-cut strips of linen. The caftan is made from linen cloth woven as a bolt of fabric and cut using a "semistraight" structure, with triangles and trapezoids—some of them pieced from smaller fragments of cloth—assembled to shape the garment. This type of construction is common to traditional garments of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
279:
wadding to approximate the thickness of the linen coat with its sheepskin lining. The two silks now appear as patterns of off-white on dark brown, but analysis shows that each is patterned in four colors. It is no longer possible to determine with certainty what colors were used; likely, the designs
176:
concludes that "neither the age and places of manufacture of the majority of
Chinese silks nor of those from the eastern Mediterranean recovered at the North Caucasian sites can as yet be defined with absolute certainty. In the absence of further criteria, Ierusalimskaja's dates can only be accepted
171:
below. The main site is a burial ground at
Moshchevaja Balka ("Ravine of the Mummies or Relics"), in a densely wooded area about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) above sea level. Anna A. Ierusalimskaja, curator of the North Caucasian antiquities in the Hermitage, has written extensively on the finds (in
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The caftan is fitted to the upper body and has a flared skirt attached at the waist. The front is double-breasted, with the "proper left front closing toward the right and the right front overlapping it". Two long slits at the back, below the hipline, also trimmed with silk borders, accommodate a
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These finds provide the context for the Met's caftan. It is consistent with documented finds from
Moshchevaja Balka, where several tribes of the North Caucasus "seem to have shared a fairly uniform and—were it not for the textile finds—unspectacular material culture, known as the
189:, in a region then under Khazar domination. These tribal horsemen would have served as local guides and carriers, collecting short lengths of silk as "tolls and rewards" in kind from among the textiles shipped via the northern route of the ancient Silk Road.
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in Saint
Petersburg, the caftan and leggings represent rare survivals of garments from the Caucasus, where the climate—unlike that of more arid regions—is not generally conducive to the preservation of organic materials.
164:). The first caravan carrying Chinese silks traveled via this North Caucasus route in 568. The Caucasus silk routes remained in use through the Middle Ages, losing their importance only in the 14th century.
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The lower sleeves and upper neckline of the caftan have not survived, and it is unknown whether a collar or cuffs were part of the garment. The pieces are sewn with linen thread in neat
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The caftan is associated with a pair of silk leggings with linen feet, also in the Met. Along with fragmentary garments from
Moshchevaja Balka in the collection of the
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was the great overland trade route of the
Ancient World, carrying goods including silks from China to the Mediterranean. By the 6th century C.E., tensions between
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during the 8th–10th centuries. The caftan is reconstructed from garment fragments excavated from a burial ground near
Moshchevaja Balka (located by the
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Ierusalimskaja categorized the silk fragments found at
Moshchevaja Balka into groups by likely origin. The majority are suggested to be
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textiles, and had a sheepskin lining of which only traces remain. The cut or shape of the caftan is distinctive to men's coats of the
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The caftan's borders, each about 8 centimetres (3.1 in) wide, are made of two different designs of polychrome
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391:"A Man's Caftan and Leggings from the North Caucasus of the Eighth to Tenth Century: A Conservator's Report"
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In the 20th century, many textile finds of this period were discovered near the mountain passes and on the
345:"A Man's Caftan and Leggings from the North Caucasus of the Eighth to Tenth Century: A Genealogical Study"
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Die Gräber der Moščevaja Balka : frühmittelalterliche Funde an der nordkaukasischen
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430:"A Man's Caftan and Leggings from the North Caucasus of the Eight to Tenth Century: Introduction"
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Rear view of the caftan, showing the silk borders on the slits of the skirt panels.
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or coat of linen with silk borders in the collection of the
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represents the typical clothing worn by horsemen along the
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seated rider. The garment is secured with three sets of
579:. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. pp. 22–28.
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185:culture". The wearer could have been a man from
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148:disrupted trade along the traditional route.
355:. The University of Chicago Press: 125–154.
641:Clothing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
440:. The University of Chicago Press: 83–84.
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468:"Georgia - SILK ROAD - UNESCO"
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646:History of the North Caucasus
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284:, yellow, brilliant red from
625:Kajitani (2001), pp. 113–115
575:Burnham, Dorothy K. (1997).
428:Harper, Prudence O. (2001).
343:Knauer, Elfriede R. (2001).
172:Russian and in German), but
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507:(in German). Editio Maris.
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325:Metropolitan Museum of Art
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389:Kajitani, Nobuko (2001).
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207:plain weave
154:Caspian Sea
66:Identifiers
36:8th century
635:Categories
401:: 85–124.
303:References
651:Silk Road
297:Samarkand
286:safflower
142:Byzantium
138:Silk Road
112:, on the
98:Silk Road
595:37984987
523:36220234
321:"Caftan"
265:leggings
169:piedmont
144:and the
41:Location
454:1513057
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369:1513059
293:Sogdian
132:Context
100:in the
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473:25 May
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273:samite
226:Persia
222:Alanic
187:Alania
90:caftan
19:Caftan
450:JSTOR
411:JSTOR
365:JSTOR
263:Silk
238:frogs
218:Adygo
210:linen
77:[
591:OCLC
581:ISBN
519:OCLC
509:ISBN
501:See
475:2017
277:wool
242:bias
214:silk
136:The
33:Year
442:doi
403:doi
357:doi
108:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
