2026. no 1. Anastassia Teplyakova

Satin weave in figured textiles of the second half of the 13th–15th centuries

Anastassia Teplyakova
State Hermitage Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation

Abstract. The article focuses of the distribution of weaving techniques of patterned silk fabrics based on satin weave beginning from the second half of the 13th to the 15th centuries throughout the entire territory of the transcontinental trade networks known as the Great Silk Road. A survey on textile specimens allowed us to construct a preliminary model of this phenomenon, identify some consistent patterns: the 5-and satin damask technique originated in China, no later than the 1320s, and probably subsequently spread along the Silk Road, quite quickly reaching Italy. However, this technique was not as widely used in weaving as 5-end satin ground lampas, so in some textile centers lampas was produced instead of damask. It was also possible to formulate questions for further refinement of the model: are there any 5-and satin damasks in Italy reliably dated to the 14th century, how to attribute the Chinese-Mamluk group of damasks, were 5-end satin ground lampases produced in China in the Yuan and Ming empires, and what fabrics were produced under the Timurids.

Keywords: Great Mongol Empire; Mamluk Sultanate; Italy; Silk Road; silk; satin; damask; lampas

For citation: Teplyakova A.N. Satin weave in figured textiles of the second half of the 13th–15th centuries. Krymskoe istoricheskoe obozrenie=Crimean Historical Review. 2026, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 129–145. https://doi.org/10.22378/kio.2026.1.129-145 (In Russian)

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anastassia N. Teplyakova – Research Fellow of the Oriental Department, State Hermitage Museum (34, Dvortsovaya Embankment., St. Peterburg 190000, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0002-5460-8009. E-mail: teplyakova@hermitage.ru

Received 10.02.2026

Accepted 12.03.2026