Touched by Indigo - Royal Ontario Museum

and taken up other jobs to make a living. The woodblocks that have
fallen into disuse frequently ended up being used as stringers for the
steps of a staircase, or as make-shift covers
for large pottery jars, or bases for supporting
such storage containers. The future of
clamp-resist dyeing is grim indeed unless an
official program to sustain this technique is
put into place soon.
IN THE RURAL AREA surrounding
the cities of Wenzhou and Taizhou, located
along the southern coast of Zhejiang province,
it was customary for the family of a
prospective bride to prepare as part of her
trousseau one or more quilts with the covers
embellished with auspicious designs."
Those that had images of dragons and phoenixes
were called "dragon-and-phoenix"
quilts (longfeng bei). Others decorated with
many boys were called "hundred children"
quilts (baizi bei). Still others that showed
children dressed in traditional scholar's attire
were called "champions" quilts (zhuangyuan
bei). These designs expressed blessings for a
harmonious married life, abundant offspring,
and success in the children's future careers.
According to superstition, failure to provide
such quilts would cause discord in the daily life of
the new couple, or their inability to produce sons, or worse still, one
of them dying prematurely. If such misfortune did eventually happen,
the bride's family would be blamed.
As a rule, cotton to be used for a quilt cover would be woven
with double yarns to ensure durability. Only poor families that could
not afford the expense would use a single yarn. Naturally quilt
covers made of a single yarn would be lighter, less warm, and less
durable. Irrespective of quality, however,
when the newlyweds covered themselves
with new quilts at night, they would find
themselves tinted with indigo dust when
they rose in the morning. This inevitable
phenomenon was deemed to be good for
safeguarding health, as indigo was also
reputed for its medicinal qualities.
When sewn together, these two
unconstructed panels with a design dyed
in mirror image form the top of a quilt
cover. The decorative elements, composed
of dots, curves, and straight lines,
are neatly grouped into three registers.
The principal composite motif in the middle
register consists of two pairs of phoenixes
surrounding a lotus with a seed pod
in the centre and two peonies beside it. It
calls to mind two traditional motifs euphemistically
termed feng chuan lian (phoenix
penetrating a lotus) and feng chuan mudan
22. UNCONSTRUCTED TOP OF A QUILT COVER WITH PHOENIX DESIGN,
Cotton, 1997, Badai village, Yishan county, Zhejiang province, Gift of Dr. Ka Bo
Tsang in memory of Mrs. Tsang Ng Sheung, 2004.68.23.J-2, (each) L 190 cm x W.
73.7cm
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