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Subject:Re: Silk tapestry with real human hair
Posted By: Bill H Mon, Apr 25, 2016
Quite a lot of this needlecraft was made in Taiwan and apparently elsewhere in Asia in the early years following World War II and came to the US with military personnel returning from the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The figures represent members of the Daoist group of deities called the Eight Immortals, and a common vehicle for displaying them in this colorful padded and couched form was on the silk covered cardboard sides of octagonal desktop wastebaskets. Not the most noble of places one might think, but perhaps these lucky spirits served to encourage typists not to make mistakes and thereby cut down on the waste of expensive office stationary.
I don't recall right offhand seeing human hair used in these creations, but perhaps I presumed the beards and tresses were all silk fibers.
Wonder if your grandmothers rescued these figures from one of the aforementioned baskets that had started to wear out. I have seen some others like this that have been framed as other than complete sets.
Best regards,
Bill H.
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Silk tapestry with real human hair 
( China & Japan ) - Jimmy Limo - Apr 24, 2016 (10:38 PM) 
