Chasuble

This garment– a tabard-like Chasuble, intended to be worn by a Catholic priest– is an early example of what would become an increasingly lively export market of Chinese embroidered needlework to Europe. The brilliant palette, combining yellow, green, red, orange and deep blue, and delicate patterning of birds within foliage is very representative of the Asian needlework most prized in Europe. Indeed, the decoration of this chasuble closely resembles another within The Met's collection (1973.118a). This piece, however, has been tailored in the conventional European style, with each face of the chasuble constructed out of three panels of textile, whereas 1973.118a– like most surviving Chinese chasubles for the European market– is composed of a single length of embroidered silk, patterned to look as if it consists of multiple pieces.