A PAIR OF 'QIXI FESTIVAL' SILK EMBROIDERY SCROLLS QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD, POEMS DATED 1742 AND 1755

each mounted as hanging scrolls and masterfully worked in precise detail with polychrome silk threads against a silk ground depicting various groups of people practicing traditional rituals and worshipping the celestials on the Qixi Festival, all below dated inscriptions and seal marks, one skilfully embroidered with a summer scene centred with a tranquil courtyard, decorated with various figures engaging in ritualistic practices, such as hanging clothes on rods, the garments depicted billowing with draping folds, daintily detailed with plants pertinent to the summer such as chrysanthemum blooms, the fence of the courtyard adorned with lone meandering vines with leafy tendrils extending outwards, a young boy dressed in loose robes standing in the arched doorway of the fence and depicted holding two stems of lotus roots, the background with an arched bridge next a walled pavilion with tall trees in and around the architectural compound, further decorated with large picturesque mountainous peaks of exquisitely transmuting colours, all below six imperial poems dated to the renxu year (1742), followed by two embroidered seal marks reading Sanxi Tang (Hall of Three Rarities) and Yongbi zaixin (‘the use of the brush is in the heart’) respectively, the other with a pictorial autumnal scene similarly depicted with various figures leisurely gathered in a veranda, including a group of four ladies with one holding a powder box, another lady looking at her reflection at a mirror supported by an attendant, another lady elegantly dressed and adorned with golden bracelets, depicted with her back slightly bent and looking endearingly at a young boy, possibly her son, the well-structured courtyard further arboured with larger overhanging trees of varying kinds and finely detailed furniture and vessels, surrounded by lush vegetation and leafy trees issuing from the crevices of jagged rockwork and mountainous boulders of gradient shades in the foreground and background, all below a poem in the upper right section of the scroll next to delicate cloud wisps, the poem dated to the yihai year (1775) and followed by two embroidered seal marks reading Hanxu langjian (‘Let your bright mirror reflect as water reflects the sky’) and Wanyou tongchun (‘all is one with spring’)

The pair is in overall good condition for its age and type. The top sections of both scrolls appear to have been slightly trimmed. There is minor moulding to the edges, which appear to have been covered by frames at a certain time. The kesi also has minor foxing, occasional stains and insect holes, as well as expected missing, loose and reaffixed threads.
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Finely embroidered with scenes of young ladies preparing for the Qixi Festival, these panels are outstanding for their intricate recreation of scroll paintings into needlework that has been remarkably preserved. The mountains of the background effortlessly transition between different shades of blue to illustrate their loftiness and contrast with the busy scene in the foreground. The richness of embroidered silk suited the lavish taste of the Qing Emperors, especially the Qianlong Emperor who was known for his taste for the opulent. Under his reign and imperial tutelage, enormous quantities of furnishings were produced for the many halls and Buddhist temples in the palace. From archival records it is known that women of higher rank in the Palace were involved with embroidery and continued the ancient tradition of home embroidery; however, a tremendous amount was still produced by craftsmen and artisans.

The representation of actual paintings or painting styles in needlework first appeared during the Song dynasty (960-1279). Embroidery of this period was worked over a sketch which indicated its importance. Emperor Huizong (r. 1101-1126) set up a specialised division devoted to embroidered painting. This was divided into the categories of landscape, buildings, figures, and birds and flowers. Following in his footsteps, Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127-1162) established the Bureau of Fine Textiles in Hangzhou, the Southern Song capital. Ming embroiders continued to copy Song embroidered paintings as well as interpreting contemporary paintings. The Gu family of embroiders are considered one of the most admired Ming embroiders, who developed a delicate style that was practised well into the Qing dynasty. Compare a finely embroidered framed image depicting the Queen Mother of the West attended by two fairy maids, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated in Verity Wilson, Chinese Textiles, London, 2005, pl. 53.

These panels illustrate the Qixi Festival, also known as Double Seven Festival as it is celebrated on the seventh night of the seventh month, and can be dated back to the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). On this night, women – particularly ladies of the court - prepared fruit and incense as offerings to Zhi Nu and Niu Lang, two figures from an ancient legend, to plead for the mastery of skills in needlecraft in order to find ideal husbands. The legend tells of the romance between a celestial weaver girl whose role was to weave the clouds, Zhi Nu, and a mortal cowherd, Niu Lang. In their infatuation with each other they neglected their duties, thus drawing the anger of the Queen of Heaven who drew a line across the sky with her hairpin, which became the Milky Way, and the two lovers were forever separated from each other. Their anguish was so great that the King of Heaven took pity on them and granted them one visit once a year at Magpie Bridge. The ladies on these panels are shown preparing the hanging of laundry in the sun, another Qixi Festival tradition that originated from the Han dynasty and provided the wealthy an opportunity to show off their fortune.

See an ink and paper handscroll illustrating a related scene, Ladies on the ‘Night of Sevens’ Pleading for Skills, by Ding Guanpeng (1748), from the Shanghai Museum, included in the exhibition Telling Images of China, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 2010, cat. no. 6.