Patchwork in China (part One of Many)

In my last post, I wrote a bit about the Han Chinese tradition of making bai jia pao (白家袍), or "One Hundred Families Robes." These silk patchwork robes were made for hundreds of years as talismanic, or spiritually protective garments for young boys.

Other Chinese ethnic groups besides the Han, however, have used patchwork and applique in their domestic textiles. Here is a photo of me showing some VIP visitors a quilt top from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum's collection. The piece is attributed to the Maonan people of Guangxi province in southwest China.

Quilt top attributed to the Maonan people of SW China, 20th c., International Quilt Study Center & Museum, photo courtesy of Jonathan Holstein.

The piece consists of the top, decorative portion of what would have been a quilt cover (sort of like a duvet cover) -- the back has been removed. The individual blocks were constructed in what today's quiltmakers might call "potholder style," in that they were fully appliqued, embroidered and quilted on a foundation fabric before all of the completed blocks were then sewn together.

Here is another beautiful example of a Maonan quilt top from the IQSCM collection.

Quilt top attributed to the Maonan people of SW China, 20th c., International Quilt Study Center & Museum, 2011.026.0001