Framed Antique Embroideries

I discovered Chinese embroideries on my travels in India between 1971 and 1979. At least 100 years old and, probably, older they were brought to India during a period of extensive trade between the two ancient countries. Aristocratic Indian families ordered them through emissaries who selected Chinese craftsmen to perform the intricate embroidery - all of it done by hand, mostly in silk or silk-satin fabric.

The flower-bearer on the above image is drawn from one of the many lovely patterns. The detailed thread work is outstanding, down to the facial features. These embroideries were used as trim for a "sari" - the Indian woman's traditional native dress.

Some of the frames contain work done in the "forbidden stitch," "blind stitch," or knot stitch, as illustrated on the left. Some of the Chinese women who did work on embroderies of this nature went blind. At a later date, the technique was forbidden, hence, "forbidden stitch." These frames are exceptionally valuable.

Some of the images have fuzzy horizontal or vertial lines in them. These are a result of stitching two or more images together to form a single image. Please try to ignore them as you browse through these works of art.

This collection represents a fraction of our total number of framed antique Chinese embroideries. Each frame was individually hand crafted by a custom frame maker who is no longer in business. He was the best San Francisco could offer in the late 1970's and early 1980's. The gold-leaf frames are of special noteworthyness. If you are interested in seeing photos of our family collection, please send us an email. In addition to the frames, we have hundreds of feet of embroidery yardage, which we plan to offer for sale as soon as we can catalog them and scan them as we have done the frames.

Some of the uses for the yard goods, in addition to framing, that we have found to be quite enjoyable are pillows, photo album covers, and purses. We're sure you can think of many other uses.

We experience great joy in bringing them to you custom-framed like the true and rare works of art they are. We hope you will enjoy these exquisite antique Chinese embroideries as much as we do.

--Mala