tribaltextiles.info

Ann Goodman has been in touch with the following question and sharing photos of a very beautifully executed baby carrier:

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

I have enlarged details of the the prayer wheel, the symbol in the circle and the cartouche. If anyone wants any more details enlarged the images that Ann sent me are quite large and with good definition so I may be able to show them more clearly for you.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Here for a brief visit and logging on
I wonder whether this piece is not actually a Han Chinese piece? The style of the horned dragons and their depiction reflects a strong Han Chinese influence along with the associated flaming pearl (寳珠)commonly found amongst the Han Chinese to this day. To answer a couple of Ann's questions directly:
1. The "B" symbol appears to be the Chinese character for 'sun'.
2. The 'circle motif enclosing diamonds' distributed through the piece may quite possibly represent old coinage and is also not a specifically Tibetan or Yi motif.
3. Regarding the motifs on the black border: these appear to be a combination of the symbols used to represent the Daoist Eight Immortals 八仙 (Baxian) on the left, namely a fan to represent 鐘離權 (Zhongli Quan) and a gourd to represent 铁拐李 (Tieguai Li). The symbol on the top right black border may possibly be a pair of castanets used to represent 曹國舅 (Cao Guojiu) but the lower right symbol has no counterpart to represent a further member of the Eight Immortals. The symbols on the right may then possibly depict two of the Eight Treasures as follows: top right a pair of rhinoceros horns used to denote happiness and, lower right, a book used to denote good fortune.

I cannot see the "tiger" on this particular piece (usually either very obviously depicted with stripes or in other less direct representations by the character 王 (wang).
The mythical creature on the left is actually a qilin, whilst I think the two animals represented at the top are actually a pair of fu lions.
'Sika' deer are widely distributed across East Asia and are commonly associated with longevity.
I am uncertain as to the distinction between the two birds as crane and phoenix and likewise the attribution "Yi flowers".

It is interesting that all animals are represented in pairs except for the qilin where, in Han Chinese art, it is typically depicted as solitary. Furthermore in this piece the qilin is depicted, unlike all the other animals above/on some flowers and leaves: In Han Chinese folklore, the qilin is the believed to be able to walk on plants and yet not to crush them.

...and Ann Goodman's response:

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

The characters on the unfurling scroll on the top left definitely are not Han Chinese. It looks like it might be a representation of an Yi bimo book.
I am not an expert on bimo books or the Yi. I am simply venturing a possibility.

If it is a baby carrier why the eyelet on the top? If it was for a headcover wouldn't there be two eyelets?

What a nice mystery. I look forward to seeing who can solve it.

Steven

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steven frost-arts of southwest china
www.stevenqfrost.net/gallery

What an interesting thread about a beautiful textile! It's amazing to me that a textile has lead to a discussion about religion, archaeology and language!

I don't have much to add, but my first impression when viewing the writing on the "scroll" is that it is somehow related to the trigrams of the I Ching, which based on what yuanzhumin had researched, appears to have it's roots in the Yi language.

from Ann Goodman:

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Following her return from seeing the 'Writing with Thread' exhibit in Santa Fe and enjoying delving into the catalogue, Ann Goodman has been in touch asking me to make a post on this thread on her behalf:



I would just add to this post the definition of 'tabby cloth' as given by Marla Mallet in her 'Woven Structures', page 26, where she says, under the heading 'Balanced plain weaves':
The Bailing Miao red wool cloth on textiles in my collection would, indeed, qualify as 'tabby' as it is a balanced, plain weave.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Thank you, Ann, for sharing pictures of your beautiful baby carrier. My own Yao? baby carrier appears to have some similarity to the Yao baby carrier pictured on pages 320-321 of the Writing with Thread catalog. Huang Ying Feng's collection is proving a benchmark for helping collectors and scholars identify Chinese Minority textiles. Words cannot express how grateful I am for Huang Ying Feng's vision.

My own carrier shows some oddness around the central panel. Perhaps another larger panel was sewn there originally? All comments appreciated.

Nina

Very many thanks for sharing your charming baby carrier with us. It seems very much in the style of those on WWT, pages 317-321 which all seem to be from Guangxi. As a former patchworker and quilter it is interesting to see the use of patch/pieced work background in all of the carriers with the application of the embroidered square in the centre with its whimsical depiction of the auspicious symbols. Perhaps your carrier is closest to the one depicted on pages 320-21 in WWF which is shown to come from Jinxiu Yao County, Guangxi and thought to be 'early 20th century'. The next most similar on page 317 is also from Jinxiu Yao County and thought to be 'early-mid 20th century. The one on page 319 has quite a different style of centre embroidery which looks, at a distance, to be woven brocade. This one is given as from Lipu County and 'early-mid 20th century'.

Ann's carrier does not quite seem to be in the same mold but perhaps that is because it might be a decade or so earlier or from a village further away.

I can see that we will have to try and get permission to post images - with full attribution of course - from WWF on this forum! I will see what I can achieve!!!!

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource