Physical description
Hanging panel of red silk satin embroidered with silver thread and coloured silks in satin and stem stitches, with couched work.
It is a celebratory hanging for Mr Huang's 90th birthday; a long inscription bearing the names of the donors in gold leaf is embroidered on crimson ground. Around it is a border of fret pattern and peonies and chou characters. Another border shows a scene on the top: an Emperor and Empress surrounded with attendants are seated by a shrine before which a small figure is kneeling in worship. The sides and bottom of this border is filled with depictions of figures in landscape or pavilions. A narrow band of fret pattern and peonies divides this border from the next, depicting birds including peacock, crane, mandarin duck and phoenix amidst flowering branches of prunus blossom, peony, magnolia, and lotus; at the bottom are three dogs of Fo. At the top is a five-clawed dragon in between two phoenixes with clouds in the background. From the top of the hanging suspend two narrow pendants decorated with Taoist letters, bats, citrus fruits and lotus blossoms.
Place of Origin
China (possibly Chaozhou, made)
Date
1863 (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown
Materials and Techniques
Embroidered silk with silks and silver threads
Dimensions
Length: 436.9 cm, Width: 250 cm, Length: 172 in
Object history note
This birthday hanging was used in the first London production (1934-5) of SI Hsiung's play Lady Precious Stream, an adaptation of a Chinese opera based on a Tang Dynasty tale. The play was extremely successful. Painter Xu Beihong provided illustrations to the published text of the play, and Mei Lanfang designed the costumes for the play.
Historical significance: In the 1930s in Europe a series of events demonstrated European interest in the culture of Modern China: Xu Beihong had successfully staged an exhibition of Chinese ink paintings in Paris in 1935, and the Republican Chinese government organised an exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy (it was the first exhibition of Chinese arts to be held at the RA). This play was extremely well-received by the London public, and went on to run on the Broadway in New York, as a modern update on the traditional Chinese operatic form, with traditional Chinese opera translated into modern stageplay.
Descriptive line
Hanging panel of silk satin embroidered with silk and silver threads, China, 1863
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Wilson, Verity. Chinese Textiles. London: V&A Publications, 2005, 62-63p., plate 65.
Production Note
2nd year of the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor
Materials
Silk (textile)
Techniques
Embroidered
Categories
Wall coverings; Textiles; Embroidery; Ceremonial objects
Collection
East Asia Collection
This large textile panel is a celebratory hanging for a certain Mr Huang's 90th birthday, which fell in the year 1863. The embroidery is made on a crimson satin ground, red being the most auspicious colour for Chinese celebrations. There is also a long inscription praising the merits of Mr Huang, bearing the names of the donors in gold leaf. According to the inscription Mr Huang originates from Guangdong province, and the style of embroidery on this textile is probably from the Chaozhou region of the Guangdong province.
Although this birthday hanging was rendered in traditional convention, interestingly it was used in the first London production (1934-5) of SI Hsiung's play Lady Precious Stream, a modern adaptation of a Chinese opera based on a Tang Dynasty tale.
In the 1930s in Europe a series of events demonstrated European interest in the culture of Modern China: Xu Beihong had successfully staged an exhibition of Chinese ink paintings in Paris in 1935, for example, and the Republican Chinese government organised an exhibition of Chinese Art at the Royal Academy (it was the first exhibition of Chinese arts to be held at the RA). This play was extremely well-received by the London public, and went on to run on the Broadway in New York, as a modern update on the traditional Chinese operatic form, with traditional Chinese opera translated into modern stageplay.
Painter Xu Beihong provided illustrations to the published text of the play, and Mei Lanfang designed the costumes for the play.