Ge Jia textiles: baby carriers 27

A Ge Jia winter baby carrier in the collection of Pamela Cross which was bought in Ma Tang village, Kaili city, Guizhou province in November 2001. (See photogallery of Ma Tang village.) It is worked on a single piece of yang bu (market bought machine made cotton).

Andrew Dudley commented on the forum that "although this style is quite common and has been produced for a number of generations up to the present day, the pattern in the centres of the three large upper circles could be reasonably old, say about 60 years old, although it would be almost impossible to say for sure even if seeing the original piece (often, the centres of these circles were left blank as the tying band would cover this area)."

It is very difficult indeed to photograph well as a whole textile as the design is so fine. I am amazed at the control of the wax knife in carrying out the geometry of three larger circles at the top of the rectangle and smaller circumference circles on the other three sides (giving four at the bottom). I would find this design challenging enough to draw out with a pencil! The fineness of the scrolls over the whole baby carrier is mind blowing particularly remembering that the white areas have been covered in wax to resist the indigo dye and the dark lines are the result of the cotton being left uncovered to receive the dye.

images © Pamela A Cross

image © Andrew Dudley

IMGP1352at. Detail from Pamela's Ge Jia winter wax resist baby carrier showing similarity with the centre of one in the collection of Andrew Dudley to the far right

to Jpeg 65K ge-jia-wntr-bc_309e. This wax resist Ge Jia winter baby carrier above, purchased from a Kaili dealer in 1998, is in the collection of Andrew Dudley. It is made of tu bu (hand spun and woven cotton cloth). When purchased this carrier was claimed to be about 90-100 years old, which Andrew feels is unlikely, but it could well be 60-70 years old - say second quarter of the 20th century. Andrew posted this beautiful baby carrier on the forum to illustrate that around 60 years ago similar flowers to those on a winter baby in the collection of Pamela Cross (see below), featured in Ge Jia wax resist.

ge-jia-wntr-bct. Detail of a Ge Jia winter baby carrier in Andrew Dudley's collection illustrating the use of similar flowing scrolls in the wax resist. Probably first quarter of 20th century.

Detail from Pamela's Ge Jia winter wax resist baby carrier showing similarity with the centre of one in the collection of Andrew Dudley to the far right

This flower design wax resist Ge Jia winter baby carrier is in the collection of Andrew Dudley. It is made of tu bu (hand spun and woven cotton cloth). When purchased in 1998, this carrier was claimed to be about 90-100 years old, which Andrew feels is unlikely, but it could well be 60-70 years old - say second quarter of the 20th century.

Detail of a Ge Jia winter baby carrier in Andrew Dudley's collection illustrating the use of similar flowing scrolls in the wax resist. Probably first quarter of 20th century.

images © Pamela A Cross		image © Andrew Dudley

See how the winter baby carrier is used to hold the baby and how the strap passes across the top of the carrier and would cover the squares in the top circles of the baby carrier in the enlargement above and in the thumbnail to the right. Ge Jia couple, Ma Tang village, Kaili city, Guizhou province November 2001.		Winter baby carrier in Andrew Dudley's collection - detail of centre in thumbnail to the right of the row above. This illustrates that the top, larger circles were often left with no design as they would be covered by the carrying band. Probably first quarter of 20th century.

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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