otherwise imported silk which the archbishop
shops, transforming them into fertile ground for
may have used for his vestment 121
the creation of a range of syncretic expressions 128
Surviving examples of textiles which were made
It moreover shows that luxury items such as
in Central Asia at about the same time similarly
textiles served as primary transmitters of visual
present the dragon in different postures A famous
ideas, techniques, forms and fashions from the
fragment of a silk tapestry (kesi), which has been
East Asian (primarily Chinese) visual culture to
dated between 1200 and 1300, shows dragons in
the West and played a prominent role in the for-
rampant posture chasing pearls 122 Closely related
mulation of new aesthetic idioms in Western
stylistically to the dragons featured on the tile
Asia 129 It is noteworthy that together with the
revetments of Takht-i Sulaimān, these are simi-
monumental dragons carved at the neighbouring
larly shown with elongated wide-open proboscis-
site of Viār (fig 185) and the dragons that emerge
like snouts and their tails hooked under one of
in Armenian manuscripts (fig 193), the dragons
the hind legs
depicted in the royal residence at Takht-i Sulaimān
Another textile, a silk and gold thread lampas
(figs 186a and b, 187a and b), in particular on
weave, dated to c 1300, which was found in
the tile decoration, seem to be among the earliest
Gdańsk (also known by its German name Danzig),
instances of the appearance of Chinese-inspired
now in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, fea-
Mongol dragons created in a Western Asian con-
tures paired confronted parrots with Arabic
text It is most likely that the dragon motifs por-
inscriptions on their wings and tails with ascend-
trayed on Chinese or Central Asian textiles
ing four-clawed dragons of East Asian inspiration
provided a model for the dragons rendered on
rendered in a twisted fashion in the interstices 123
other media 130
As noted in the inscription the silk was probably
The dragon motif continued to be an important
made for the Mamlūk sulṭān al-Nāṣir al-Dīn
symbol in Ilkhanid manuscript illustration, of
Muḥam mad I ibn Qalāwūn (r from 693/1293 to
which one of the very greatest examples, the Jāmiʿ
694/1294 and from 698/1299 to 741/1341) and
al-tawārīkh, was undertaken under Ghāzān Khān
offered as a gift by the last Ilkhanid ruler Abū
It was at his instigation that the great task of com-
Saʿīd following a truce 124 A further example, also
mitting the Ilkhanids’ universal history to writing
preserved in the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin,
was assign ed to the eminent grand vizier and
which has been dated between 1275 and 1350,
patron of learning, Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlallāh
shows coiled dragon motifs set in lobed medal-
Hamadānī Ṭabīb ( c. 645/1247), a convert from
lions surmounted by a band of pseudo-inscription
Judaism Intended to promote Mongol identity
composed of interlaced Kufic shafts At first sight
and transmit a written record of its distinctive
the dragons appear to be distinctly Chinese in
history and achievements,131 the Jāmiʿ al-tawārīkh
style, closely related to the dragons portrayed on
centres on Mongol history This ideological oper-
Jin brocades125 or on yuan textiles 126 yet the motif
ation was made to fit into the literary mould of
has been adapted to more Iranian interpretations
the subject population, aiming to place the
with the pearl being absent and, more importantly,
Mongol Ilkhanids as rightful successors of the
the dragons’ tails ending in dragon heads 127 The
previous “legitimate” kings in Iran, thereby jus-
depiction on the lampas weave also reflects the
tifying ideologically the political process of amal-
imperial Mongol policy of large scale movement
gamating pre-conquest Iranian and Mongol
and resettling of specialist craftsmen drawn from
Ilkhanid identity into one unified structure 132
diverse conquered countries to staff their work-
Completed only after Ghāzān’s death during the
121 Eidem, vol 1, p 158
fig 2002, cat no 181; Kadoi, 2008, p 27, fig 1 8
122 The Cleveland Museum of Art, inv no 1988 33; Watts
126 For instance, Watts and Wardwell, 1997, cat no 42
and Wardwell, 1997, cat no 17, for related examples see
127 Inv no 00 53 Watts and Wardwell, 1997, p 139,
p 55, fig 12, p 68, fig 22, p 75, figs 26 and 27, and cat nos
fig 68; Kadoi, 2008, p 27, fig 1 7
13, 14, 18 Cf Kadoi, 2008, p 20, fig 1 1
128 See Dode, 2007, pp 100–13
123 Inv no 1875–258 Wardwell, 1988–9, fig 19; von
129 The agency of the Mongols as “prime movers” in
Wilckens, 1992, pp 47–8, no 75; Legacy, 2002, fig 75, cat
the long-distance east-west exchange and patrons of cul-
no 71; Kadoi, 2008, p 26, fig 1 6
tural transmission has been demonstrated by Allsen, 2001,
124 The inscriptions read, “Glory to our lord the sulṭān,
pp 3–16, 193–211 See also Legacy, 2002, p 183
the king, the just, the wise Nāṣir,” at the centre is the name
130 Cf Kadoi, 2008, p 107
“Muḥammad ” Arts of Islam, 1976, p 80; Wardwell, 1988–9,
131 Tr Thackston, vol 1, 1998–9, p 18
p 101
132 Idem, pp 27–8
125 Watts and Wardwell, 1997, cat no 30; Legacy, 2002,
224