I have been looking for clues to the golden pillow, and so I got this book on loan from the library,

It is the catalogue from an exibition in 1995 in Hong Kong with mainly silken textiles from the Ming and Qing dynasties in China.

I was looking for dragons but found all kinds of beautiful stuff, colours, form and details instead.

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Lovely colours and forms, lots of inspiration and snapshots to go on working with. Maybe I had a notion of Chinese art being inferior to Japanese, but any such assumption has been laid to rest now!!

I was especially intrigued by a robe made by Kesi slit tapestry weaving – wonderful colour palette and patterns.

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The text is calling it a Manchu Ladies Robe, ca. 1890 – 1905. Perhaps worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi, who according to the text above favoured pastel shades of lavendler and turquise with designs of spider chrysanthemums interspersed with shou longevity characters. (Page 250)

Ref to artikel: Coat of many colours, Stephen McGuinness in Mondial Collections vol 1, no. 1, p. 82 – need to look it up and work with the colour palette.

Lovely book – wish I could keep it…