Catalog: Vintage Arts (65)

Fine and rare four paneled skirt, from the Meifu subgroup of the Li people, Hainan Island, circa mid 20th century. These kinds of textiles are unique among Chinese minority weavings as they combine supplementary weft brocade and tie dye ikat techniques. The colored threads in the brocaded panel are polyester and commercial white thread while the rest of the skirt is hand spun cotton and indigo. There is some minor even fraying at the bottom and a few negligible small holes...

Elegant ebony wood carving of a Balinese beauty circa 1960 to 1970- possibly older. This was obviously created for the tourist market and panders to the Western ideal of the female form of the time. I traveled to Bali in the 80s and 90s and found their arts and crafts leaning more to the impressionist side, where figures looked like the Navi from Avatar. Given its hardness and cost, ebony is usually only given to master craftsman to carve from...

Very rare complete jacket back panel from the remote Miao Jiupang group from Jiahe County, Guizhou province (see last enlargement), with purple embroidered pattern between the spaces in the tin decoration. This style of decoration is unique to this group and very difficult to make, as every tiny bit of tin has to be individually cut and crimped. Recently acquired from a private Hong Kong collector, these are the first examples I have send of these I have seen in the past 10 years...

Fine and rare five paneled skirt, from the Meifu subgroup of the Li people Hainan Island, circa mid 20th century. These kinds of textiles are unique among Chinese minority weavings as they combine supplementary weft brocade and tie dye ikat techniques. The colored threads in the brocaded panel are a combination of cotton, and polyester while the rest of the skirt is hand spun cotton and indigo in an abstract and zoomorphic design- pulled apart at the seam on top, no rips or holes...

Vintage clear cloisonné lidded box, employing the plique-a-jour technique, lovely muted pastel colors with a “pierced” lid, most likely meant to be a potpourri to put scented herbs and flower petals in. This is a complicated and time consuming craft- please note that the bottom is cloisonné as well as having some curvature to the lid - it would have been much easier just to give it a copper bottom and making the lid flat...