Two Han Chinese Girls Embroidering

Chinese hanging scroll depicting two girls embroidering (early 19th century). Chinese hanging scroll depicting two girls embroidering (early 19th century). Copyright Trustees of the British Museum, London, acc. no. 1941,0311,0.1.

A nineteenth century hanging scroll now in the British Museum (acc. no. 1941,0311,0.1) in London depicts two Han Chinese girls working on pieces of embroidery. One of the girls is using a rectangular stand frame and is embroidering a design of flowers. She is wearing a more formal jacket with embroidered collar and front opening band, with a pink skirt. This type of skirt was often embroidered as well.

The other girl has a rectangular frame that is held in the hand, with embroidered flowers of various forms. She is wearing a jacket with embroidered collar and front opening band, but with trousers instead of a skirt. This is a more informal outfit. She is also shown with the tip of one of her red lotus shoes just visible, which is an indication that she had bound feet. Lotus shoes were normally embroidered in some manner. The scroll dates to the first half of the nineteenth century (Qing dynasty)

British Museum online catalogue (retrieved 22nd June 2016).

GVE

Last modified on Sunday, 30 April 2017 13:32