late 1800s
Ten-panel folding screen; embroidery, gold silk threads on black silk
Each panel: 147.3 x 34.5 cm (58 x 13 9/16 in.); Overall framed: 224.9 x 493.2 cm (88 9/16 x 194 3/16 in.)
Gift of the Honorable Joseph P. Carroll, KM, and Roberta Carroll, M.D., in recognition of the contribution of Marjorie Williams to the development of The Cleveland Museum of Art 2020.86
The artists of this folding screen were likely to be women royal embroiderers.
This embroidered folding screen depicts a set of bronze vessels. While the subject of bronze vessels is part of mainstream male culture, which centered on ancestral rituals, its needlework was done by royal female embroiderers. Based on a design provided by a male court painter who understood the shape of each bronze vessel and its corresponding ritualistic function,female court embroiders accurately rendered a shining set of bronze vessels in gold threads. This work provides a rare example of close collaboration between women and men in achieving high artistic sophistication.
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