A blue-ground silk embroidered 'Three Star Gods' panel, Qing dynasty, 18th century | 清十八世紀 藍地繡三星報喜圖

Geng Zhi Tang Collection.

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This piece is a fine example of Suzhou school embroidery. From the Ming dynasty onwards, embroidered works produced in Suzhou, one of the textile production centers of Southern China, achieved an outstanding reputation for its fine quality and sophisticated designs, known as suxiu (Suzhou style embroidery). The scroll depicts the 'Three Star Gods', each representing good fortune (fu), wealth (lu), and longevity (shou). These three deities are worshipped and revered in Chinese culture, particularly during festivals and important occasions, with the hope of attracting luck, wealth, longevity, and overall well-being.

Compare a closely related example, from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong zhixiu xuancui / Masterpieces of Chinese Silk Tapestry and Embroidery in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998, pl. 43; and a related embroidery scroll depicting Magu, the Goddess of Immortality, illustrated in Huang Nengfu, Chūgoku kinuorimono zenshi. Nanasennen no bi to waza [Complete history of Chinese textiles. Skill of seven thousand years], Tokyo, 2015, pl. 9-214.