I found this at Brimfield with a good bit of dust over the glass, but a few swipes with some Windex and this bird sings! The silk embroidery is a fine 19th century Chinese rank badge--a fragment I presume, but I have not removed it from the frame. Rank badges (also called rank insignia or Mandarin squares) were used in China during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties to demonstrate the wearer's rank. There were several different birds used--gold and silver pheasants, egret, crane, flycatcher, peacock, goose--with fairly subtle differences among some of them, which, for a non-expert like me, makes them a bit hard to distinguish; I believe this is meant to be an egret (standing in a small pool of water).
I've finding myself ever more enamored with needlework of many sorts lately, and forever with labor intensive, finely crafted things, and the fineness and beauty of antique Chinese embroidery is really pretty unmatched. Quite stunning, and while perhaps not my ususual style, this brass standing frame, setting it off in gold and making it read almost like a screen, is quite perfect. Gorgeous.
9 7/8" x 5 3/4" x 1" framed. Sight: 7 9/16" x 4 1/16". Excellent antique condition. The velvet backed frame has an easel back from standing or can be hung from the strung, tasseled cord.
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