Dragons Chasing the Sacred Pearl
A large silk embroidery, worked in relief in cotton tabby, padded floss silk, coloured couched threads and the dragon scales detailed in gold wrapped threads, with three scaly coiled dragons amongst clouds, one clutching the sacred pearl, on a ground of couched spirals of twisted thread, within a blue border embroidered in gold with a geometric floral pattern and on wooden stretcher.
Unsigned
Height 293cm, width 205.5cm
Meiji period, circa 1890
As many as 12 or 16 strands of raw silk are combined to make a single strand of flat silk. The absence of any twist makes flat silk the most lustrous nature fibre available. This is sometimes described as floss silk.
The technique hippari-toji (line of held thread) is used to create a narrow gently curving line often used for whiskers or hairs, as seen here on each of the dragon’s claws. A long stitch, possibly several inches long, is couched into shape with a second thread, usually a very fine twist of the same colour.
