Event

An unusual talismanic shirt, shaped like the top half of a caftan and made for Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (d. 1403) features a prominent cloud collar motif on the chest and back of the garment, evoking the Mongol empire more than half a century after the fall of two of its major polities, the Yuan and the Ilkhanate. A design with origins in Central Asian Buddhism, the cloud collar began to be used prominently in a courtly context during the Mongol period. While it appears on a variety of media, including textiles, ceramics, and metalwork, its presence on men’s and women’s dress of the ruling classes of the Yuan and Ilkhanate indicates that it was a status marker within the Mongol empire. This talk will examine uses and meanings of the cloud collar during the Mongol and post-Mongol periods, both at courts and cultural centers that had affinities or connections with the Mongols, and those that seemingly, did not.