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I could not refuse, and bought this piece. What do you think about it? I think it is Chinese. Might be from Hong Kong. Or possibly pre-1949 Mainland?


Thanks and cheers,

m.

Your embroidery has a kind of Catholic prayer that I think is called a "Hail Mary". The characters here probably are meant to read in the following order: 天主聖母為我等今祈天主及我死候 (Pinyin transcription: Tianzhu Shengmu wei wodeng jin qi Tianzhu ji wo si hou). Without any provenance, it's difficult for me to to say whether this is Japanese, Chinese or Korean, as standard Chinese characters might have been used by devotees in all three places in bygone times.

This is a well done piece of embroidery that may be older than it looks, due to being cared for so well by adoring parishioners. This prayer entreats the Virgin Mary's assistance with God now and in the afterlife, but I'll beg off from attempting a full translation, since it is the kind of task I definitely would not want to do wrong.

Best regards,

Bill H.

And again thank you for your help Bill!

m.

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