A panel of gold brocaded silk with lions, phoenixes and flowers. Ming period, second half 16th century. The panel was without doubt part of a longer weaving, probably an altar-cloth or valance. The colours are vibrant and the textile is in excellent condition. Early Chinese textiles like this one come with almost no exception from Tibet where they survived the ages within monastery walls. An almost identical weaving (half the size of this one) is in the Myrna Myers Collection, Paris, and has been published in J. Vollmer, Silks for Thrones and Altars, p. 87. Dim.: WxH 60 x 32cm, mounted on green cotton on foam-board (66x36cm).