Hanging with children at play
This large polychrome silk embroidery features a popular motif known as “the hundred boys.” To express the desire for a prosperous family, hundreds of male children at play are depicted, usually in a beautiful garden. Here, 250 boys are engaging in various activities, such as wrestling, hide and seek, butterfly catching, deer riding, and playing with a ball. Each child is embroidered in a different posture with simple but fluid outlines, which required not only intensive skill but also artistic sensibility. Hangings like this usually served as wall decorations in wedding celebrations.
Artwork Details
- 清 刺繡百子圖
- Title: Hanging with children at play
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: 19th century
- Culture: China
- Medium: Silk and metal thread embroidery on silk satin
- Dimensions: Overall: 10 ft. 2 in. × 87 in. (309.9 × 221 cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Embroidered
- Credit Line: Bequest of William Christian Paul, 1929
- Object Number: 30.75.33
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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19th century
Xugu (Zhu Huairen) (Chinese, 1823–1896)
1866
Hu Zhang (Chinese, 1848–1899)
1873
Wan Yannian (Chinese, active late 18th–early 19th century)
19th century
ca. 1860
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