Embroidered Panels with Design of the Chinese Characters for “Longevity” and “Good Fortune”, 18th-19th century
Unknown Koreanexpand_more
Gold-thread embroidery on silkexpand_more
Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundationexpand_more 2015.79.522.3
Not on Viewexpand_more
Each of these six panels features twenty-four Chinese characters, alternating between the characters for “longevity” (壽) and “good fortune” (福). The characters, embroidered in gold thread on a light-blue ground, represent a wide variety of scripts. Some are traditional, while others are less orthodox, including characters whose brushstrokes are formed by stylized bamboo, fish, or birds.
These panels—probably from a set of eight or ten panels mounted individually or as a folding screen—would have been used as an auspicious backdrop for a sixtieth birthday celebration. The sixtieth year (called hwangap in Korean), marking one’s survival through a full sexagenary cycle (the twelve-pronged, sixty-year zodiac calendar), receives special commemoration in many cultures within the Chinese cultural sphere, even today.
Details
- Title
- Embroidered Panels with Design of the Chinese Characters for “Longevity” and “Good Fortune”
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2015.79.522.3
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Murase, Art through a Lifetime, no. 947
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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