Chinese Ornament: The Lotus and the Dragon

14th century acanthus leaves acanthus scrolls Albert Museum animals architecture Beijing birds borders borrowed British Museum Buddhist buildings carved Central Asia century BC ceramics China Chinese lotus clouds composition creatures deer designs developed Diam Ding ware dish decorated dragon Dunhuang early East example façades figure flower heads flower patterns flower scrolls frames Gandhara Gombrich Hellenistic illustrated Iran Iranian Iznik Jingdezhen Kaogu Kushans lacquer later lions lobed heads lobed panels lotus and palmette lotus flowers lotus heads lotus leaf lotus patterns lotus scrolls lotuses Mongol motifs niches Northern Wei dynasty ornament outline painting pair palmette Parthian peony petals phoenixes potters province qilin s-shaped sculpture seen Shanxi shape Shōsōin similar spirals stems stone Tang dynasty Tang period Tarim Basin temples textiles Theban tomb tiles Tokyo Topkapi Saray trees undulating Victoria and Albert volutes wall-painting Wenwu Western Yuan dynasty Yuezhi Yungang بود که