- Place of origin:
- Materials and Techniques:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
China, room 44, case 24
A table frontal covered the front, sides and legs of a table but not the top. It usually had a set of matching chair covers. The back of the table was left free so that a person could sit at it comfortably.
This table frontal would have been used for dinner parties. In 17th-century China guests at a banquet usually sat behind individual small tables rather than round a large table as a group.
Arranged in two tiers with a narrow section of cloth overlapping a deeper length. Counted thread embroidery worked regularly across an even, open gridwork of gauze silk is the main technique used on this intricately-patterned frontal. Vertical stitches are used throughout and, except for the dragons on the lower section and the small roundels on the pelmet, these regular stitches cover the ground material completely. An unbroken herringbone pattern is formed by the straight stitches, and this goes right across the piece regardless of the colour changes of the embroidery thread. In addition to this underlying pattern, there is a more obvious one of diamond and octagonal lattices, each ogive containing a tiny lotus, long life character or bat. Long satin stitches and couched gold thread form the sinuous spotted dragons as well as the floral circles above them.
Place of Origin
Materials and Techniques
Height: 79.3 cm, Width: 262.9 cm
Historical context note
Table frontals were made to match sets of chair covers, although this one does not today form part of such a group. The frontal was suspended around the front and both sides of the table, covering the legs. It did not cover the table top. The back of the table was left free so that a person could sit at it comfortably.
Table frontal, silk embroidery, 1670-1730, Qing dynasty, China
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Wilson, Verity. Chinese textiles. London: V&A publications, 2005, plate 41.