Panel
18th century-19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This embroidered silk wall panel was the first Chinese textile to be registered in the V&A's collection.
Despite the seemingly conventional Chinese landscape and motifs in the embroidery, it is probably that this textile was made for an export market. The embroidery is in the style of Cantonese work made for export. The colour scheme is also more typical of those favoured by a European market in the eighteenth and nineteenth century (the pink, vermillion and pastel blue hues would have been a more vibrant shade of reds and blues when new). Finally, there would have been very little use in a Chinese interior for a wall hanging such as this example, while on the other hand, the dimensions of this panel hanging suggests that it might have been made to fit the floor to ceiling height of a European home.
Despite the seemingly conventional Chinese landscape and motifs in the embroidery, it is probably that this textile was made for an export market. The embroidery is in the style of Cantonese work made for export. The colour scheme is also more typical of those favoured by a European market in the eighteenth and nineteenth century (the pink, vermillion and pastel blue hues would have been a more vibrant shade of reds and blues when new). Finally, there would have been very little use in a Chinese interior for a wall hanging such as this example, while on the other hand, the dimensions of this panel hanging suggests that it might have been made to fit the floor to ceiling height of a European home.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | silk embroidery |
| Brief description | Panel, embroidered silk, probably Guangzhou (Canton), China, 18th-19th century |
| Physical description | Panel or vertical hanging of white silk,embroidered in colours and gold with women and children in a garden setting. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Purchased from Mr. A.S. Idles, accessioned in 1853. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project. This embroidery is the first Chinese textile to be registered in the V&A's records. |
| Summary | This embroidered silk wall panel was the first Chinese textile to be registered in the V&A's collection. Despite the seemingly conventional Chinese landscape and motifs in the embroidery, it is probably that this textile was made for an export market. The embroidery is in the style of Cantonese work made for export. The colour scheme is also more typical of those favoured by a European market in the eighteenth and nineteenth century (the pink, vermillion and pastel blue hues would have been a more vibrant shade of reds and blues when new). Finally, there would have been very little use in a Chinese interior for a wall hanging such as this example, while on the other hand, the dimensions of this panel hanging suggests that it might have been made to fit the floor to ceiling height of a European home. |
| Bibliographic reference | Wilson, Verity. Chinese textiles. London: V&A publications, 2005, plate 1.
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 792-1853 |
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| Record created | October 18, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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