cloud band

motif

Also known as: cloud ribbon

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Last updated

June 24, 2026

Quick Summary

The cloud band is a stylized motif of a cloud, primarily used in Chinese art and notably featured in Persian and other Oriental rugs. This sinuous design has a continuous history dating back to at least the Han dynasty in China. It became a significant element in 16th-century carpets, particularly in Persian and Turkish designs, often executed with great elegance. The cloud band motif, along with the cloud knot, moved from Syrian textile design to Asia Minor with the Ottoman Turkish conquest in the 15th century, becoming characteristic of certain Turkish carpets from the 16th to 17th centuries.12

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rug and carpet
Individual motifs
…are the cloud knot and cloud band, or ribbon—both in use by the Han period at least and with a continuous history thereafter. The cloud knot, a feature of the Persian court carpets of the time of Shāh ʿAbbās, was continued to the end of the 18th century. The cloud…
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…are the cloud knot and cloud band, or ribbon—both in use by the Han period at least and with a continuous history thereafter. The cloud knot, a feature of the Persian court carpets of the time of Shāh ʿAbbās, was continued to the end of the 18th century. The cloud…
Read More