NORTH VIETNAM HMONG TRIBE EMBROIDERY
ONE OF A KING MINUTE SILK NEEDLEWORK ON FABRIC, STRETCHED, FRAMED AND MATTED AND PLACED IN HAND PAINTED SIGNED FRAMES AND UNDER GLASS.
In Quat Dong, Vietnam, today, one is reminded of medieval Europe. Through open courtyards and windows one can see whole families embroidering pictorial scenes, flowers, birds and trees, posthumous portraits etc... Viet Nam’s most important craft is embroidery, subjects vary from depictions of the traditional scenes of Vietnamese life, to children’s stories and well known Western masterpieces. Quality pieces such as this one are beautifully rendered and created by a master embroiderer but others can been hastily finished, depending on an artist’s ability.
Embroidery in Vietnam has evolved through the centuries. In the beginning, Vietnamese used embroidery to add quotations from devotional works to pagoda curtains, to embellish ceremonial cloths and to decorate clothes from royalty. The first embroidery threads were silk, although cotton is now most frequently used. Silk is very time-consuming to work with, but last for centuries. Ancient samples still remain in a few of Quat Dong’s pagodas. Needle technology changed from bone or wood to metal, and work became more pictorial than decorative once the French began ordering pieces.
