153 - A fragment of Persian-style brocade with a 'hōsōge' (paradise flower) design A textile fragment from the Astana Cemetery near Turfan — once a key staging post on the Silk Road — a site celebrated for the richness of the textiles it has yielded, dating from the Northern Dynasties through the Tang period. This piece strongly reflects Persian-style design, visible above all in its hōsōge (foliate-scroll) pattern, and preserves in vivid form the character of East–West artistic exchange along the overland trade routes. L: 87cm W: 34cm China (8-9th century)

A fragment of Persian-style brocade with a 'hōsōge' (paradise flower) design A textile fragment from the Astana Cemetery near Turfan — once a key staging post on the Silk Road — a site celebrated for the richness of the textiles it has yielded, dating from the Northern Dynasties through the Tang period. This piece strongly reflects Persian-style design, visible above all in its hōsōge (foliate-scroll) pattern, and preserves in vivid form the character of East–West artistic exchange along the overland trade routes. L: 87cm W: 34cm China (8-9th century) Reportedly excavated from the Astana-Karakhoja tombs, near Turfan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China.