Loom width, stencil-resist dyed cotton, China, ca. 1970

Loom width of cotton, stencil resisted on one side only with floral sprigs in white against a blue ground. The resisting substance is likely to have been bean paste as used by Han people living in southern China.

Addis Bequest

These blue and white cotton pieces (FE.97 to O-1983) were loosely wrapped in paper from the Peking Arts and Crafts Shop and it may be that all of them were purchased there rather than in the areas of manufacture. They were bequeathed to the Museum by Sir John M Addis, KCMG (1914-83). Sir John, who was a distinguished diplomat and scholar, bequeathed his well-known collections of Chinese furniture and Chinese ceramics to the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Museum respectively. His collection of Chinese textiles is less widely known. They were mainly collected during his diplomatic service in Asia.
Sir John Addis had early connections with China through his father, Sir Charles Addis, who was the head of The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. Sir John himself served three diplomatic terms in China between 1947 and 1974.

Registered File number 1965/3344.

Blue and white cottons such as this originated in rural areas of China, away from the urban mainstream. Resist-dyed textiles come from several provinces, their patterns being produced by covering a portion of the cotton with a substance that resists the liquid colouring matter when the cloth is immersed in the dye bath. When the resist is washed off, the design is revealed in white against a blue ground. This piece was produced by the paste-resist method, largely used by the Han Chinese ethnic group and at one time widespread - perhaps more so than wax resist.

FE.97A-1983