Decorated panel to be sewn onto blanket cover. “Fa”. Fish and paired water dragons. REctangular off-white loosely woven plain weave cloth covered with a variety of motifs, including two pairs of large dragons, done in discontinuous colored thread in both warp and weft directions. Edges of cloth are Bordered by a band of the same repeating pattern running in both warp and weft dirctions. Again, pattern threads are discontinuous in both directions. Border pattern is blue; other motifs done in blue, red, green, yellow, and black. Question is whether motifs are embroidered and/or achieved by supplementary warp or weft. Discontinuous supplementary warp patterning would be exceptionally difficult, unnecessary, and pointless; also, some of the warp-direction motifs (eg, the border) lack warp floats on either side of cloth in large diamonds in pattern; it would be completely impractical to weave a repeating warp pattern this way. Warp direction patterns can be assumed to be embroidered. Weft direction patterns are much more likely to have been woven into cloth as discontinuous supp. weft. However, in that instance, why not do all motifs as supp. weft? Also, one piercing thread noted on outer part of green dragon, a weft-direction motif; green thread pierces one of ground cloth threads, indicative of embroidery. Note that ground cloth woven loosely enough to allow a skilled embroiderer with good eyesight to keep embroidery threads within woven sheds. 126cm x 53.2cm.
Donor:
Eric Crystal
Collection place:
Vietnam
Verbatim coll. place:
Vietnam. T’ai. Ban Doc village, Chi Khe Commune, Con Cuong District, Nghe An Province.
Collector:
Eric Crystal
Collection date:
November 2000
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Dragons and Embroidery (visual works)
Function:
4.1 Dwellings and Furnishings
Accession date:
December 12, 2000
Context of use:
Panel for blanket cover. Fish and paired water dragons are fertility symbols; these blanket covers given to couples about to be married (fide Eric Crystal).