Yellow square textile with gold writing
Chinese, early Ming dynasty, 1368 - 1644
Size: 192 cms square

Meditation brocade
A square silk lampas brocade panel, woven with large lotus flowers and scrolling foliage. Each lotus flower supporting a Tibetan character in gold script. The characters form a Sanskrit mantra, ‘Om, ah, hum .....’ relating to visualising Tara. The characters read from the centre, then to the east, south, west and north and finally the other directions and the hanging would have been used as a visual support for meditation.

* Lampas weave is one of the most complex forms of weave structure, requiring an elaborate and heavy loom. It was introduced to China from the west during the Yuan dynasty, 1279 - 1368, and was only used in professional workshops and in particular those of the Imperial palace. Such meditation hangings were made as imperial gifts to abbots of leading Tibetan monasteries and to buddhist monasteries within China. The practice of giving such gifts was at its peak in the 14th and 15th centuries.