altar cloth

Wide embroidered altar cloth with a red satin background in the centre of which is a large dragon holding a pearl of wisdom and the 'fu' symbol, one of the Twelve Ornaments. It is worked in embroidered and couched gold-coloured metal-wrapped thread and green, cream and black silks. In a mirror image about the central motif are eight other creatures, possibly dragon fish. There are also cloud motifs and waves. Along the top is a pink cotton band of fabric also used to line the textile. Below the imagery and along the shorter sides is an applied black satin strip and attached to the edges are two narrow strips of blue and white silk and a wide band of black satin.

Collected by two Presbyterian medical missionaries Drs. Lyal and Kiercross, in 1902.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
17.1.67/13
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 672 x 2420 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
silk; cotton; thread; textile
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
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Collection Information

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