Fragment of Gold Brocade, nested lozenge and double-vine large peony arabesque design on light indigo ground

During Muromachi period, many kinds of Chinese fine products were traded from China. High quality silk fabrics such as gold brocade and damask, were also fascinated Japanese noble people, especially samurai warrior class and court class people. They used those fabrics for Noh costumes, their own garments, mounting for paintings, wrappers and bags for utensils of Japanese tea ceremony. Those antique fabrics woven in Yuan-Ming dynasty were bequeathed in the Edo period, and Japanese tea masters treasured those fabrics, even though they were cut into small fragments, or were made small bags.
Gold brocades woven both ground and faced pattern with gold threads were the most favorite ones for Japanese tea masters. This fragment was one of the collection by the Maeda family, one of Japanese feudal load in the Edo period. The successive feudal loads of the Maeda family loved tea ceremony, then they were eager to collect Chinese antique fabrics.