Length of woven silk, green pattern on turqoise ground, Hong Kong, 1960-1965

Length of woven turquoise and green silk with stylised floral and leaf pattern. This is an offcut from tailoring. The inscription along the selvedge reads: 'STANDARD MADE IN HONG KONG'.

Given by Ellen Johnston Laing

The survival into the era of industrial manufacturing of a huge spread of different textile designs and, equally, of high technical standards of production, is exemplified by a series of offcuts from bolts of material purchased in the 1960s in Hong Kong by the American art historian, Ellen Johnston Laing, who donated them to the museum. The precision and high finish of industrial weaving is here put to good effect on these silk fabrics, some bearing designs related to Qing prototypes and some of a more innovative nature, but both aimed equally at a global luxury market. The names woven into the selvedges of the weaving companies attest to the ongoing practice of identifying for customers the name of the manufacturer in a highly competitive market place. These textiles were woven to be made into clothes although the range of garment types for which they were destined, from the neo-traditional qipao to western evening wear, was of an unprecedented variety and richness. Bright silks like these were eminently acceptable gifts from travellers returning from Hong Kong and China, their price advantage over Italian printed silk, for example, making them unmissable bargains.

FE.54-1999