Mary V. Hays's article studies the two-piece, overlapping silk skirts worn by Chinese women during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). It covers the history of the skirt, how to date skirts from tailoring, patterning, fabric, dyes and embroidery floss and metallic thread, the occasions and meanings of colors, and the symbolism of motifs, especially flowers. Plates with captions list colors, metallic threads and stitches for individual skirts, and tables give the Flowers of the Twelve Months with botanical and Chinese names and symbolism. The scan also includes a second article by Alan Kennedy and Lucy Maitland on flat metallic strips in Central and East Asian textiles, with a technical analysis of an embroidery on silk gauze, stitch diagrams and plates.

Type

Article

Date

1989

Language

English

Pages

51