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0123 Archaeological Researches in Sinkiang : vol.1
Archaeological Researches in Sinkiang : vol.1 / Page 123 (Color Image)

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[Figure] 22 The cape 6. A:1.

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doi: 10.20676/00000195
Citation Format: Chicago | APA | Harvard | IEEE

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She was most elegantly dressed in silk from top to toe. The most complicated
and puzzling part of the garment is a sort of cape, now in three pieces, one back
part and two front parts. These were apparently joined on the shoulders but open
at the sides, and in front, Fig. 22. The front parts reached the wrists, and during
the examination of the coffin I therefore believed the lower edges of the front
parts of the cape to be sleeves. Both back and front parts have a broad border of
lozenges of sewn-on silks in green, red, violet and brown colours. A ribbon in coarse
warp-rib runs along the upper side of this border; on Pl. 16: 5 is seen a detail of its
pattern. The ground-pattern of the ribbon is built up of checks with the same con-
formation as the five on a die. After every third of these "fives" follows a figure
of varying shape. One of them reminds one of two combs opposed to each other,
another is slightly reminiscent of the outline of a bronze ornament among the Or-
dos bronzes such as Arne 1933 Pl. VII: 10—12.
The front parts of the cape have each two pointed lappets, which apparently
hung down on each side of the opening in front when the cape was worn open.
These elements are quite strange, as one would expect them to be placed horizont-
ally and not vertically. When the front parts of the cape were tied together the right
part totally covered the left one. There is a ribbon on the left shoulder for fasten-
ing the cape, and when so worn the lappets of the left side were visible in the
opening for the right arm.
The prune-coloured borders of the edges near the arms end in points, too, but less
pronounced than in the case of the lappets.
The upper part (when worn) of this cape is much damaged as seen in Fig. 22,
and the joining between the three parts is therefore somewhat hypothetical. As no
traces of any head-gear were found it is not absolutely out of the question that the
cape was large enough to cover the head too as some sort of hood. Even if we lack

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