Description:

Chinese embroidery, 19th century.
Chinese embroidery, 19th century. A very large, beautifully executed embroidered hanging which displays couching and satin stitch in shades of blue, cream, pink, black, white and lavender with accents of gold against a red silk ground, portraying Shou Lou, the Chinese God of Longevity, with characteristic exaggerated forehead, bald pate and long tapering beard, which is done with special skill in a see-through layer over the edge of his robe. Surrounded by auspicious symbols of wisdom, good forturne and immortality, including scrolls, peony and double gourd dangling from his staff, peaches, the bat that flits above his head, and the Buddha hand citron and fungus-shaped ruyi scepter held by his child attendant. Accompanied by his animal messenger, the deer. The inscription indicates that the hanging was a birthday gift from a young man to his great uncle. Framed by silk brocade of pale browns, blues and ecru, the hanging measure over all 111" x 45". Overall in good condition, the extensive areas of satin stitch are intact except for the taupe colored sections, particularly the hindquarter section of the deer, which display thinning and loss, with similar thinning and loss in the two vertical blue strips on either side of Shou Lou's sash. The black is very well-preserved. The pink color of Shou Lou's face and hands, uniformly very pale, may once have been more intense. the bordering brocade is faded and in poor condition, the back very faded, particularly in one rectangular section.