Magnificent Works of Kesi and Embroidery Made for the Qing Court -Weaving Brilliance— Tapestry and Embroidery from the Qing Court

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Magnificent Works of Kesi and Embroidery Made for the Qing Court

The kesi and embroideries commissioned by the Qing court were made with dexterous, exacting skill using silk thread. Their strikingly beautiful coloration was sometimes augmented by brush, and they featured diverse subject matter, ranging from historical stories to Buddhist and Taoist religious iconography to woven artworks derived from the “Illustrations of Planting and Weaving.” Most Qing court kesi and embroidery commissions were assigned to the Suzhou Imperial Textile Factory. In an environment of frequent exchanges between the imperial court and local producers, the Qing court also collected works of kesi made in the style of the Suzhou prints that enjoyed great popularity in the 18th century.

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Kesi Glorious Celebration in a Farming Village

Anonymous, Qing dynasty　
Hanging scroll
Gu Si 000038

From the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the Qing court placed great importance on agriculture and sericulture-themed paintings. Artists such as Jiao Bingzhen (act. 1689–1726), Leng Mei (ca. 1670–1742), and Chen Mei (ca. 1694–1745) all produced albums themed on agriculture and sericulture, consisting of 46 scenes—23 on ploughing and 23 on weaving—depicting every step from sowing seeds to harvesting crops and from raising silkworms to weaving fabrics. The Qing court produced a wide range of artworks inspired by agriculture and sericulture, and this kesi piece is one such example.
The lower right corner of the design features a scene of a villager pounding rice, derived from the 18th scene “Pounding with a Pestle and Mortar” in Farming Illustrations. Pestles and mortars are traditional rice-pounding devices used to process grains. In this hanging scroll, a rural family warming itself by a charcoal fire and an elderly man holding the hand of a child add a sense of rustic joy to the village life depicted.