silken rabbits

www.metmuseum.org
Gift of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, in memory of Jean E. Mailey, 1994

This Ming Dynasty textile (China, late 16th - early 17th century) shows rabbits gamboling about in the clouds. Made of silk gauze with silk and gold threads, it's not only luxurious but fortunate: rabbits brought all sorts of good things, and were companions of the ageless Moon Goddess.