Ge Jia textiles: baby carriers 15

Detail of an beautiful embroidered Ge Jia baby carrier purchased in 1996 in the collection of Bill Hornaday. On the forum he said of this baby carrier: "As to questions regarding Baby Carrier 2 (the one shown above) the wax-resist straps are clearly indigo and seem even darker in real life than the pic. This piece is clearly very old as the straps while old do not seem to be the first set of straps used on the carrier. Because of the quality of the Baby Carrier itself, I would have loved to see the original straps.It seems evident that this piece has been used by multiple generations. It seems as if the silk thread has been faded whether by sun or by washing it is imposible to say. There are definite signs of wear, and one place has a 3/4 inch patch. One has only to feel it to realize that it has a feel that comes from serious age." Andrew Dudley posted an example of a Ge Jia embroidered baby carrier from the second quarter of the 20th century in a similar design to Bill's but which had retained its original colours. See first thumbnail below.
image © Andrew Dudley	image © Bill Hornaday	image © Bill Hornaday

Andrew Dudley's Ge Jia embroidered baby carrier, originally from Huangping county, Guizhou province is in a similar design to Bill's and has still retained its original colours from the second quarter of the 20th century. Andrew purchased his carrier in Kaili in 1997.	Bill's complete Ge Jia embroidered baby carrier No 2	Detail of Bill's Ge Jia embroidered baby carrier No 2 showing both the wax resist and woven sections of the ties

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To access the Ge Jia threads from which this photogallery and associated material has been created go to the forum and click 'Search' - one of the top right hand buttons on the screen - and input 'Ge Jia'
for further photogalleries of Ge Jia textiles see Ge Jia textiles: jackets and Ma Tang village, Kaili city