Chinese silk embroidery, 19th Century

This Chinese silk embroidery panel is finely patterned with flower garlands and parrots in soft pastel colours on a beige ground. Chinese embroidery typically uses a variety of stitch styles and a wide range of time-honoured designs, including imagery of flowers and birds as well as geometric and abstract patterns, as seen in this example.

This wall-hanging has used untwisted (flat) silk threads which create a rich sheen. This has been combined with padded stitching to create a sublime three-dimensional effect.