Marvin Amstey

I am including here images of interesting flatweaves about which there is very little information. Various dealer sources have called these "Mongolian" or "Gansu". Another written source has them being produced somewhere along the Yangtze River in the latter half of the 19th c. The MET in NYC has a pair of the first example in its collection: same red-headed Mongolian cranes, but on a peach ground. The birds (in the first instance) are woven into the fabric with a basic weft design. The remainder of the figures are block printed in a water insoluble dye. In the second instance, the Foo dog and Phoenix bird are woven and the rest is block printed. The wool is coarse - containing what is probably hair.
Here is the first:


And the second:

Clicking on the images will enlarge them.
I would appreciate more info about these from anyone.

I should add that the first weaving is approximately 4 x 10 feet and the second is approximately 3 x 9 feet.

Patrick Weiler

Marvin,

I had the help inventory my collection. I know it is difficult to believe, but I do not have any pieces similar to these two.

The construction technique appears to be a tapestry weave with eccentric wefts, but it is difficult to tell without closer photos.
The designs look similar to silk embroidery pieces common in more recent Chinese manufacture.
I do have an altar frontal weaving of silk embroidery with the ground cloth having a similar-appearing background design, but it is not block-print. It is woven into the fabric and the foreground designs are embroidered onto this fabric in silk and metal-covered threads.

Patrick Weiler

Marvin Amstey

It is a tapestry weave with eccentric wefts as you state, Patrick.