The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Ivory colored, rectangular silk textile ornately embroidered with green-brown and blue-green plant-life and swarming with various types of birds in pairs. A branch arcs in from the central left, on which perch two white and blue feathered birds, a larger bird in brown shades spreading its wings above them. Two large light brown and dark blue colored birds with yellow-gold crown feathers sit on the ground. Smaller birds swoop across the textile.

A Myriad of Birds

1700s–1800s

China, Qing dynasty

(1644–1911)
silk: satin weave with polychrome silk embroidery
Overall: 118.7 x 76.2 cm (46 3/4 x 30 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1960.276
Location: 240A Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy

Did You Know?

This magnificent textile, probably executed by a woman, demonstrates the tradition of making embroidered pictures in imitation of paintings.

Description

This embroidered panel, made with extremely fine silk threads, presents a lavishly detailed composition filled with fortuitous imagery. Pairs of birds, including mandarin ducks, peacocks, cranes, swallows, and pheasants, move among flowering trees, ornamental rocks, and aquatic plants, symbolizing harmony, prosperity, and longevity. Cranes stand for longevity, while a pair of mandarin ducks convey wishes for a harmonious marriage. Inspired by the decorative bird-and-flower paintings of the artist Lü Ji, the work prioritizes symbolism over spatial logic. With vibrant colors, meticulous stitching, and fortuitous meaning, the embroidery exemplifies the technical brilliance of Qing dynasty textile art, rivaling the quality of imperial production.
  • Textiles are light sensitive, and damage to textiles from overexposure to light is cumulative and irreversible. One of the signs of light damage in textiles is the fading of dyes. In the case of this embroidered textile, by comparing the silk embroidery colors on the front to those on the back that have been protected from light, we know the silk embroidery colors have faded to more muted tones.
  • ?–1960
    Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1960–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • A similar embroidery is in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. artgallery.yale.edu
    Spee, Clarissa von. "From the SIlk Road to the Imperial Court: Chinese Textiles in the Cleveland Museum of Art." Arts of Asia 48, no. 3(May-June 2018): 50-56. Reproduced: p. 55, fig. 8
    Silberstein, Rachel. “A window into a Qing embroidery shop.” HALI; the international journal of Oriental carpets and textiles. Issue 224, Summer 2025. p. 74-77
  • A Myriad of Flowers and Birds in Chinese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 2025-May 24, 2026).
    Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).
  • {{cite web|title=A Myriad of Birds|url=false|author=|year=1700s–1800s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.276