Sutra Cover with Floral Scroll
Unknown Artist
16th century
Medium
Silk satin with supplementary weft patterning
Dimensions
Overall: 5 x 14 1/4 in. (12.7 x 36.2 cm)
Classification
Textiles-Woven
Culture & Period
China · Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.186.32
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Sutra Cover with Floral Scroll*, crafted in 16th-century Ming dynasty China, served as a protective wrapper for Buddhist sutras—sacred scriptures revered in East Asian religious practice. During the Ming period (1368–1644), a golden age of Chinese artistry, such textiles reflected the era's prosperity and devotion to Buddhism, often commissioned for temples or elite patrons. Measuring a compact 5 x 14¼ inches (12.7 x 36.2 cm), its delicate scale belies its cultural weight, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art Department, acquired through the Rogers Fund in 1...