Description

This pair of Japanese silk embroidered tigers dates to the Meiji period, to the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Tigers were very popular in Japanese art as a symbol of strength and courage even though they are not native to Japan. According to the catalogue of the seminal exhibition on Japanese textiles at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, which was held from 9 November 2012 to 27 January 2013, depictions of tigers were often based on Chinese paintings, and the tigers frequently have unusually large paws. The textiles in hand show the same characteristic. A similar embroidery titled “Tiger among reeds” was included in this exhibition and is published in said catalogue (McDermott, Hiroko T & Clare Pollard, Threads of Silk and Gold. Ornamental Textiles from Meiji Japan. The Asholean Mueum, Oxford 2012, page 148).

These are two impressive textiles with great presence: the clever and very skillful use of long stitch and short stitch produces the subtle variation in colour and a sense of three dimensional representation of the subject matter, giving the tigers  vivacity and life-like qualities.

The embroidery is worked in silk on a silk satin ground and is in excellent condition.

It is framed in a contemporary frame and behind UV protection glass

SOLD