Embroidered Silk Panel
Artist:
Unknown
Place made:China
General region:Asia
Culture: Chinese
Period: Qianlong period
Dynasty: Qing
Date: 18th century
Dimensions:
13 1/4 x 27 1/8 in. (33.7 x 68.9 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Lenora and Walter F. Brown
Object number: 2013.38.252
Label Text
Evoking a Chinese garden in springtime, this beautiful embroidery panel is dominated by a tall nandina growing behind a rock and laden with red berries. Blossoming peonies, their petals bejeweled with seed pearls, narcissus, bamboo, and lingzhi fungi surround the rock. The particularly fine needlework is visible in the shades of color on the plants and the rocks, creating an illusion of three dimensions. The combination of these plants delivers a hidden auspicious meaning—wishes for prosperity, longevity, and numerous progenies.
This piece exemplifies a long tradition of Chinese textile designs influenced by paintings. Compositions of grouping subjects in one corner of the work and leaving large areas blank were started by painters in the thirteenth century. Extremely fine craftsmanship and luxury materials made pieces such as this an ideal birthday or New Year’s gift for people of status. The rock on this piece is a stylized Taihu rock, similar to the one on this museum’s campus, by the River Walk.
This piece exemplifies a long tradition of Chinese textile designs influenced by paintings. Compositions of grouping subjects in one corner of the work and leaving large areas blank were started by painters in the thirteenth century. Extremely fine craftsmanship and luxury materials made pieces such as this an ideal birthday or New Year’s gift for people of status. The rock on this piece is a stylized Taihu rock, similar to the one on this museum’s campus, by the River Walk.
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
