Object class: Bags (generic containers) / Collection place: Asia / Collector: Ilse Martin Fang - Hearst Museum Portal Search Results

Start Over Object class Bags (generic containers) Collection place Asia Collector Ilse Martin Fang

Hearst Museum object titled Pouch, accession number 9-21266, described as Gourd-shaped tobacco pouch. Peach colored satin front with green bamboo embroidered in satin, stem, and long stitch. Sapphire blue satin back quotes the verse, “With the slanting belt of peach blossoms, the whole creek is covered with smoke” by Littlehill (Hsiao Shan) in white satin stitch embroidery. (Fide: Ilse Fang, 8/28/2001, character for “smoke” is same as for “haze”. Also, gourds have medical, poisonous, or refreshing characteristics - and the spirit who dispels evil spirits has a gourd - so gourds can hold something spiritual and effective.) The gourd is outlined with a blue and white tape. It combines the bottom parts, but frames the top two sections separately. Tacks over bottom part and in two different places right and left above, allow just one finger to be inserted to pick out the tobacco. The 25.5 cm long, looped hanging cord suggests that this pouch was to be worn from the shoulder button of a Manchu tunic.

Hearst Museum object titled Pouch, accession number 9-21270, described as Man’s leather pouch (to be worn on belt). Back trapeze-shaped buffalo (?) leather, edged with donkey skin. Unlined. Rounded corners. Front wider on top but gathered with a fold into the same shape as the back. Heavy white silk cord runs through two times three holes in front, two holes in back, where the loop can be fastened to the belt. A center panel of doubled brownish cotton-cloth creates two compartments. Front completely covered with split-stitch embroidery on terrra cotta colored silk. The words “A container for a whole mass of Treasures” appear in the lower half among flowers. Wider donkey skin triple-stitched; front holes leather-reinforced. Pouch 19 cm wide at bottom;16.5 at top; height 15 cm.

Hearst Museum object titled Pouch, accession number 9-21271, described as Violet pipe (?) pouch. Three distinct zones and a flounce. Brocaded violet middle zone with pink and apple-green hibiscus and other flowers. Gold-chain and silver rickrack braids cover the upper and lower ends. Top and bottom zones: silver monads brocaded on background pattern of swastikas (10,000, meaning long life) and thunder motifs in silver on white. Herringbone stitches in gold and mouse-grey fasten the red, pink, mouse-grey and white plaid cotton flounce to the pouch. Bottom seam stiffened with a weave composed of narrow golden-brown braids brocaded in black. Flounce violet interfacing glued in. All vertical seams in center of back. A slot in upper half of violet zone. Purpose not known. (Fide: Ilse M. Fang, 8/28/2001: Slit is for pipe.) Top narrow with side pleats. Drawstrings run through four holes each. Strings of golden, interwoven double cord with chevrons of originally sea-green, now mostly faded, silk thread. After 6.5 cm, all four ends knotted together in a bullion knot. Ends simply cut off after a further 4 cm and wound and buttonhole-stitched in red twined silk thread. Overall length of pouch: 31 cm; width at bottom: 11.2 cm; at top: 6 cm.