Miao (Hmong) costume and textiles from Southwest China: Part 1
The Miao are one of China's largest ethnic minority groups, living in Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. They are famous for their skills with indigo dyeing and embroidery. This is a relatively large minority group, so styles of Miao clothing and dress are very diverse amongst different sub-groups.
CET82 A Miao "Hundred Bird" coat, worn at festivals. A number of examples of "Hundred Bird" coats have been published (see Gina Corrigan's book on Miao textiles for example), but most are decorated mainly with embroidered designs of birds. |
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| (CET82 continued) Some coats include areas of geometric embroidered designs on sleeves and on the hanging tassels (for example the jacket at the Metersbonwe museum in Shanghai is of this type). A few however, such as this jacket, are entirely decorated with geometric designs embroidered in silk on a cotton foundation (that is entirely covered with embroidery). The jacket is lined with indigo blue cotton and the hanging tassels at the bottom are backed with handmade paper. There are job's tears seeds at the base of the tassels, with feathers below. |  |
(CET82 continued). I have not been able to find any exactly comparable published example, but it the coat is said to come from the Rongjiang area of Guizhou and this attribution is almost certainly correct. It is around 40 years old. 145cm wide x 105 cm tall. Price on request |
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CET69 A Miao jacket from the Nandan area of Guangxi province, decorated with silk embroidery, silk tassels with cowrie shells, indigo batik and applique. This is the back of the jacket. |
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| (CET69 continued) Detail of the embroidered decoration on the back of the jacket, tassels folded back to show the embroidered designs. Bought about 10 years ago, this kind is now hard to find on the market. |  |
(CET69 continued) The front of the jacket. 154cm wide. Mid 20th century. |
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CET99 Embroidered jacket from Huaxi area of Guizhou province. Beautifully decorated with embroidered designs (see detail below). These jackets were amongst the first collected and traded by dealers from Guizhou and are consequently now scarce. 82cm tall. |
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| (detail of embroidery on CET99) |  |
CET252A A very old and fine embroidered and batik jacket and skirt set from the Huaxi area of Guizhou province, dating from the early part of the 20th century. Click on the small image at right for a closer view of the jacket. Note the embroidered sleeves and hand-loomed indigo fabric as well as the embroidered design on the central panel. 159cm x 90cm. |
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| CET252A: detail of the embroidered jacket panel. It seems to have been the norm for these panels to have batik decoration underneath: embroidery was then added on top following the batik guide, depending on the jacket owner's time and skill. |  |
CET252B: plain pleated skirt in dark calendered indigo cotton, with jacket CET252A. |
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| Go to Part 2 |