Embroidery

The art of needlework is nearly as old as that of weaving. So soon as fabrics were made the need for embellishment arose. It is due to the impermanence of the materials that embroideries more ancient than the old bronzes do not now exist. Inasmuch as the art of embroidery is largely one dealing with work in silk, and sericulture having originated in China some 4,000 years ago, it is reasonable to conclude that embroidery also originated in China. Some of the earliest embroideries still existing were discovered by AuREL Stein in the hidden chapel of the Cave Temple of the You sand Buddhas at Tun-huang and date back to the 10th century. Stein describes a large embroidered picture IMG:p173_2.png:Chinese characters on silk of Buddha and his disciples, with good! drawing and harmonious colouring; a cushion cover j with floral ornament and tracery resembling that used in Chinese embroidery of the present day; together with some silk tapestries and damasks. Although Khotan was a sort of half-way house between Eastern and Western Asia, it is probable that these embroideries were of Chinese design although influenced by Graeco-Buddhist art as developed in Central Asia; the technique and the whole treatment of these Stein embroideries is frankly Chinese. In dealing with any department of Chinese art it may be remembered that China was a mature nation long before any of the present European nations ex-isted. Printing originated in China 400 years earlier than in Europe. The art of China, as we see it preserved at the present day in Museums and, elsewhere, represents the resplt of a very complete and slow-moving evolution. 1 As in other arts, so in embroidery and allied textile arts, religion has been a potent influence, particularly Buddhism. The other influences which inspired textile ornament were the ceremonies of the court and officials, whose robes and trajopings, especially during the T'ang dynasty and later periods, gave full scope for the decorative artist. These were later reflected and elaborated in the costumes of the theatre. It may be noted that of the costumes and trappings of the Buddhist religion, court officials and the theatre, the most resplendent were intended for masculine adornment. In China it has ever been the male bird that was most resplendent and outwardly attractive. The consummation of art textile work came in the reign of Ch'ien Lung, a.d. 1736 to 1795, when the most beautiful tapestries, brocades, damasks and embi'oideries were produced. The subsequent decline of taste and art craft was giradual, but during recent years the decadence has been accelerated since the country was flooded with factory-made goods. Perhaps the last stage is represented by the so-called " Canton embroidery " made to meet a " foreign taste," which is synonymous with vulgarity, and for the special delectation of the globe-trotter, whose pockets the Chinese know too well how to empty. The average globe-trotter likes realism and prefers pure imitation of natural forms to the formal fancies of earlier date which have made Chinese art the individual thing that it is held to be to-day. It is scarcely nece ary to say that the modern " Canton embroidery " with its meretricious ornament has practically no artistic merit and is merely a product of a period of crude commercialism. Art textile work, so far as China goes, has sung its swan song and it will probably be many years before the art spirit will again descend among the people. 174 Embroidery is e entially a personal art and requires so little appafl-at us as to render it the IMG:p174_1.png:Chinese characters most acce ible and commonly practised of all art \ crafts. This fact alone, making for keen competition, tends toward a comparatively high degree J of excellence. Considered as an art of expre ion, apart from its decoorative value, embroidery: has its own particular virtue, cea-tain textiles IMG:p174_2.png:Chinese characters and surfaces in Chinese work, such as the plumage of a bird and the colour and surfaces of flowers, being rendered by the needle with a beauty and! ti'uth beyond the ordinary range of pictorial art. In the retinue of beauty, among her sister arts of design, embroidery holds a special place. DESIGN. So soon as, by the observation of beauty and incident, certain superior workers found that art did not consist in the imitation of nature, real designs would be evolved, and, as these became repeated, they would be stored up in the memory and transmitted to the next generation to be finally recorded in books. Such books have been available in China certainly as early as the Sung dynasty ( 960-1279 a.d.). Later there were books for the special use of embroiderers, with woodcuts of conventional designs and decorative schemes. The Chinese are indebted to plants, flowers, and fruits for many of their best designs. That these are rarely a mere imitation of the original shows the Chinese to be good designers, for natural forms are only of real value for design after they have pa ed through the artist's brain. The peach, peony, pomegranate, narci us and lotus are treated so as to be full of rhythmic j vitality and in keeping with the best conventional and aesthetic ornament. They appear Co have the right perception of what detail to suppre and what to retain. They appreciate the worth of simplicity in ornament and know the value of an empty space. They practise restraint in decorative design. If one takes a good piece of handwoven work or embroidery, it is seldom that any part of the decoration can be removed without sacrificing the general effect. As a rule Chinese design in textile work is very conventional and there is little growth, the pleasing effect being obtained by good arrangement and colour. Their figures are drawn with vigour but the details, such as hands and feet, are usually incorrect. In some cases, especially where the elements of decoration are symbolic, they are scattered without apparent design, the pleasing result being due to colour and the use of gold thread. In the matter of background the Chinese appear to have a pa ion for restle motives. While, in Europe, it is a generally recognised principle of design that the background should serve to show up the subject to the greatest advantage and not detract from it by a erting itself in any way, in China it is often nece ary to scrutinize a piece of work to find out which is the principal subject and which is secondary matter. Thus, in the coat badges IMG:p174_3.png:Chinese characters tzu) the background frequently consists of recurrent curved cloud and wave forms suggesting continuous motion: this would be considered wrong by a European designer but, in China, by frequent acquaintance, especially with the virtues of the Chinese fret, it produces a result giving complete artistic satisfaction. Recurrence in art expre es repose and is frequently used for border patterns, in which the Chinese are past masters. A border is required to give a sense of completene . The elements used for border decoration are chiefly drawn from the key pattern and the svastika with its numerous modifications; from bats usually alternated with a written character such as shou IMG:p174_4.png:Chinese characters floral scrolls, dragons and birds. A corner will nearly always be found treated in a satisfactory manner by the Chinese as they are quite at home with geometrical patterns — the Chinese appear to have used the Grecian fret before the Greeks. The Chinese make a quite special use of winged creatures in textile ornament. Birds, bats and butterflies may be considered the particular decoration of Chinese embroidery and hand-woven work. Butterflies are worked with marvellous nicety and wonderful vitality. There is no slavish imitation of nature and these insect forms are idealised in a beautiful way. The bat is perhaps the most frequently used of all elements of decoration partly because of the beauty of the idealised animal and also because it is the emblem of happine . Birds are drawn with admirable spirit and spontaneity. In the use of cloud and wave forms the Chinese approach perfection, as may be seen in the fine Ch'ien Lvru/ tapestries, in which also some amazingly good work is got in on the dragon and phoenix m.otives. In dealing with designs used in Chinese textile ornament an important point to note is their antiquity. The embellishment of silk was one of the earliest art crafts and the decoration invented for this purpose has been repeated in other arts. The comparatively modern arts of porcelain manufacture and enamelling on metals found in the old embroideries and brocades the chief inspiration for their patterns, most of which were copied with little modification from the older textile art. The examination of embroideries and woven work will in a large pi'oportion of cases show how beautiful a factor of ornament in Chinese art is the written character. COLOUR. Colour is the chief charm of Chinese art textile work. Even where the design is weak, the glorious ma ing of colour captures the eye and brings complete satisfaction. In the 175 same manner the large use of gold thread both in embroidery and woven work, much increases the richne of the effect. Many of these richly wrought fabrics sliow an oriental splendour, which the occidental appreciates more when they are toned down by considerable fading. In the East there is a craving for brilliant colour doubtle due to the intensification of the rainbow hues of life. When new, the colours are a trifle flamboyant sometimes;but it is more than probable that the Chinese, with their reverence for age, think beyond the present and purposely make the original colours too bright in order that the final result after years of mellowing may be the more perfect. They certainly have this in view in painting pictures. In embroidery we look for colour in ma rather than line work. In Chinese embroidery the colour schemes are most brilliant, the blues being especially good and satisfactory, the yellows and oranges le so. The colours are usually high in tone and harmonize well in most cases. They have the.effect of making our low-toned Western work appear very subdued by comparison. By the use of French knot far filling in forms the Chinese obtain the fullest colour value, the tint being reflected from the depths of the projecting knots and producing a very deep and intense effect unattainable by other means. Satin stitch worked with flo silk gives very pure and lively flat colour effect and shading. The colours in all the best embroideries and woven work appear to be vegetable in origin. The pure blue was derived from indigo, the reds and yellows from safflower: the scarlets from madder. INIETHOD OF WORKING AND MATERI- ALS. The materials used in Chinese embroidery ai-e flo silk, gold thread and a tightly twisted variety of silk like English purse silk. The flo .silk is an untwisted glo y silk which is used for filling spaces, producing a lively effect of light and shade when the direction of the stitch is changed. It is also used for shading, at which the Chinese are particularly clever, formalising their work in a way which is IMG:p175_1.png:Chinese characters decorative. The gold thread is usually made of tinsel twisted spirally round a scarlet silk core. It seldom tarnishes and is almost invariably fixed in position by couching with yellow silk. It is very frequently used for outlining floral and other ornament; in.spirals for representing the sun and the centres of flowers; in ma es when a particularly rich effect of cloud or sea is required; and in borders for meanders. The stitches used are simple and few in numbei-, namely: (1) Satin stitch, and long and short stitch which is a development of it. (2) French knots. (3) Stem stitch. (4) Couching. (5) Chain stitch, which is worked beforehand and applied to the material afterwards and (6) Split stitch. In Chinese work the outlines are quite true, most remarkably so for stitchery: they never seem to lose their drawing. The design is, of course, first drawn with a brush. The colour and workmanship in Chinese embroidery are in most cases so excellent that they compensate for any deficiencies there may be in design. Compared with Western embroidery that of IMG:p175_2.png:Chinese characters shows few stitches. All the stitches, on the other hand, used in China are used in the present day in the West. From the Western point of view there is too much couched outline in Chinese work: this is considered a quick way of hiding a poor margin: couched outline makes a clear line, however, and is the only way of using gold thread in embroidery. The use of French knot to fill in forms is one of the characteristics of (Jhinese work. The Chinese satin IMG:p175_3.png:Chinese characters is usually perfect work, spidery in its finene , as is also their shading; in both of which they make special use of flo silk. In Chinese embroidery the texture of the ground material is not shown so much nor is the twist of the silk made to give its value to the ornament so much as in Western work. But in the actual skill with the needle the Chinese appear to be far ahead of most Western embroiderers. The Chinese use pretty much the same implements as the Western world and embroidery is mostly worked in a frame pivoted on two upright supports. Chinese embroidei'y is the model for good flat treatment of plant forms. Their method of work is almost unapproachable. They produce marvellous effects, often with one or two shades, mainly with their skill in placing the stitches, the direction of which they constantly change, obtaining a plea-- sant play of light and shade. They frequently use the method of voiding, that is to say, leaving! the gi'ound to show between the petals of flowers I and leaves in a manner which is somewhat like I the use of ties in stencilling. Their manipulative I skill is wonderful. They have certainly reached j the top notch in French knot. The term " French I knot " is somewhat of an anomaly considering the special frequency and delightful effect of its use in Chinese work. In China it goes by the name of " Peking " stitch, although most of it comes from Mid-China, especially Soochow and Hangchow. The articles most frequently embroidered ai'e co.stumes, temple hangings and shrine cloths, shoes, pipe-cases, purses and fans. In some of the fan.s the back and front are precisely similar, the ends of the threads being neatly concealed. [A. S.l