Chinese Hand-Made Silk Embroidery (2)
Whether you’re an “art lover” or the “common person,” you’ll come to appreciate the value of silk embroidery ( embroidery thread ) once you learn of the skill and effort that goes into creating each piece. In order to invent a high quality piece,an artist have to split a single silk thread into some thinner threads. It can be split into 12 to 48 thinner strands – depending on how fine the artist wants to be with his/her piece. The embroiderer then stitches layer after layer utilizing threads of different kinds of colors to get the eventual marvelous effect. Embroiderers are famous to take continual breaks -each 10 to 15 minutes – to rest their eyes contribute to the strenuous nature of their work.
Due to the labor-intensiveness of the work, some larger and more intricate pieces of embroidery ( embroidery thread ) may require a year to a year and a half to complete by an artist or group of artists. Those works sell for thousands of dollars, – which is reasonable – considering the skill and time involved in creating the work. Of course, smaller pieces are available that are of high quality yet sell for much less.
Four Types of Silk Embroidery The adoption of different needling methods through the years has resulted in four distinctive embroidery ( embroidery threads ) styles in China:
1) “Su” embroidery of Jiangsu Province – known for its delicacy and elegance, this style is usually very simple, highlighting a main theme. Its stitching is smooth, dense, thin, neat, even elegent and splendid. The thin thread is divided into up to 48 strands that are barely visible to the naked eye. Double-sided embroidery is originated from Su embroidery. Su embroidery goods were delivered to take part in the Panama World Fair in 1915.
2) “Xiang” embroidery of Hunan Province – became the main craft in places around Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province, in the Qing Dynasty. Xiang embroidery was developed from Hunan folk embroidery methods, but relied on the skills of embroidery and needlework Su Yue. This approach utilizes loose colorful threads to embroider the pattern with the stitches being not as neat as those of other embroidery types.
