Tuesday 4 August 2015

China - part 9 - textile heaven 2


More pieces from Mrs Zhang's collection.  I am not sure if this is Miao, but I love the colour scheme - very restrained.

Several rooms in Mrs Zhang's large apartment were basically store rooms for her collection.  She would like to open a museum/teaching centre in Kaili.  Although it looks a bit disorganised, items were sorted by type and she knew where things were.  But like a lot of private collections, I am sure it needs more than one person to catalogue everything.  Also, a lot of the stories about the different pieces are possibly not yet written down.  It would be a big project, but a wonderful one.





A blanket - perhaps Maonan?



Stunning jacket, but I am not sure exactly which group it is from.





 



 

 



 

Skirt - 




 A blanket, perhaps Maonan?  This one has chemically dyed threads.




I think this blanket may be Buyi?  I like the stepped pattern.








I think this is woven, not stitched.


Applique - 



Miao silk 'one strand' embroidery.




A Geija batik jacket. Although they Geija have been classified as part of the Miao minority, they are different people.  This will be from near Kaili.



These smaller panels are pieced stitched by Mrs Zhang personally.  I didn't buy one this time, but I did later.



Very fine cross stitch.  I think this may be from the western part of Guizhou Province.


I kept coming back to this piece and I wish I'd bought it.  The centre looked very fine and I am sure Martin Conlan (Slow Loris) showed me a similar piece which was woven rather than stitched.



The view from the apartment.  A heavy rainstorm was coming across Kaili city.






Mrs Zhang's collection is amazing and I hope she can achieve her ambition for an embroidery centre - it would be a great attraction for textile enthusiasts visiting the region.




2 comments:

Susie Q said...

You are posting faster than I can absorb. These items are lovely.

Anonymous said...

Hi. The Gejia, or Ge-Mong (In linguist it is simply Mong/Hmong) IS part of Miao. Miao is a given name by Chinese, which Miao people in China have only accepted in recent decades. The Gejia are one of the Miao groups that have not accepted the name Miao, like-wise the Hmong in the US and southeast Asia have not accepted the name Miao