Not currently on display at the V&A

Fragment

18th century-19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Jiangsu (made)

Fragment of silk double cloth woven with two wefts: a light blue weft is used for one face, dark blue for the other, the warp being dark blue with a glint of purple. The light blue face is woven with an all-over chevron pattern. A roundel representing a crane standing under a tree, is woven on this ground by means of slight alterations in the binding, longer weft floats bringing out the figure design with a damask effect. The dark blue face repeats the roundel figure by a weft effect on a plain cloth ground. The inscription is woven along the bottom.


Object details

Category
Textiles
Object type
Fragment
Materials and techniques
Woven silk, double cloth
Silk (Textile)
Weaving
Brief description
Fragment of woven silk double cloth, Jiangsu, China, Qing dynasty, 18th-19th century.
Physical description
Fragment of silk double cloth woven with two wefts: a light blue weft is used for one face, dark blue for the other, the warp being dark blue with a glint of purple. The light blue face is woven with an all-over chevron pattern. A roundel representing a crane standing under a tree, is woven on this ground by means of slight alterations in the binding, longer weft floats bringing out the figure design with a damask effect. The dark blue face repeats the roundel figure by a weft effect on a plain cloth ground. The inscription is woven along the bottom.
Dimensions
  • Length: 48.5cm
  • Width: 78.3cm
Style
Qing
Marks and inscriptions
  • (The inscription is woven along the bottom of the textile and the Chinese characters read from right to left. Previously, the inscription was incorrectly translated by Messrs S. M. Franck and Co. Ltd. as 'A special variety of brocade made at the mills at Huo Ning'. (First suggested translation).)
    Translation
    Jiangning Weaving Office Palace Manufacture mandarin duck 'thread' satin
  • JiangNing zhi-ju-nei-ku yuan-yang xian-duan (JiangNing: a place zhi-ju: I think it is short for 'zhi-zao-ju', i.e. the agency responsible for the textile manufacturing. nei-ku: nei: the palace of an emperor, ku: department or warehouse. So anything marked with nei-ku generally means things produced/reserved for the royal household. yuan-yang: the male and female mandarin ducks. They always appear in pairs and are a symbol of love (also the motif here). xian-duan: threads and satin. Here it means 'threads on satin'.)
Credit line
Given by Messrs S. M. Franck and Co. Ltd.
Object history
Registered File number 1934/274.
Subjects depicted
Crane
Tree
Chevrons
Roundels
Collection
East Asia Collection
Accession number
T.29-1935

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Record createdJune 25, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O486884/fragment-unknown/
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