An 18th century Sino-Portuguese coverlet

Embroidered in couched gilt paper wrapped silk thread and floss silks in shades of green, gold, ochre, blue and rose with a pair of phoenixes circling a central roundel formed of a lotus flower, surrounded by trailing flowers and smaller birds within a border of similar motifs. Textiles of this type, the designs of which were slightly adapted from earlier Chinese embroideries, were made for export from the 17th century onwards, and the Portuguese trading post and colony of Macau became the gateway for textiles intended to satisfy the demand in the Iberian peninsula. A 17th century example in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 48.187.614, is illustrated in the catalogue of the exhibition ‘Interwoven Globe’, ed. Amelia Peck, publ. Thames & Hudson 2013, no. 28, pp. 174-175.

Edged with a short metal fringe and backed with tussah silk. With losses to the floss silk.

250cm (98½”) x 185cm (72⅞”).

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