Blue Cat Garden — Vintage Chinese Cats and Birds Printed Cotton
Charming pale-blue vintage Chinese cotton with paired cats, proud roosters, long-tailed birds and peonies, sold as two selectable 90 × 44 cm fabric sections. Piece B has a small documented hole.
Choose Piece A or Piece B — each 90 × 44 cm
Width: approx. 44 cm · Recorded total: approx. 180 cm
- Piece A
- Approx. 90 × 44 cm / 35.4 × 17.3 in. No small hole indicated for this piece.
- Piece B
- Approx. 90 × 44 cm / 35.4 × 17.3 in. One small hole shown clearly in the marked photos.
- A + B together
- Approx. 180 × 44 cm / 70.9 × 17.3 in. Supplied as one uncut continuous piece whenever the original connection between A and B remains intact.
A and B are two selectable sections, not two identical copies. When both are ordered, the seller does not intentionally cut between them if they remain connected. Availability and specific option selection are controlled by Etsy; see the source listing for current choices.
- Object ID
- TA-NT-0034
- Origin
- Nantong · Attributed to the Nantong area, Jiangsu, China
- Period
- Estimated c. 1960s–1970s
- Dating confidence
- estimated
- Material
- Vintage cotton, traditional narrow-width handwoven ground (attributed)
- Dimensions
- Two approximately 90 × 44 cm sections (Pieces A and B); original continuous length approximately 180 × 44 cm when still joined
- Technique
- Direct blue printed design on cotton; precise printing tool unknown · Narrow-width handwoven old cotton (attributed)
- Pattern
- Two cats on a branch · Roosters and long-tailed birds · Peony-like blossoms · Spring-flowering branches and fruit
- Colours
- Soft pale blue · Warm off-white
- Washed
- Yes
Object condition
Two salvaged sections of the same vintage cotton, labelled Piece A and Piece B, each approximately 90 × 44 cm. Washed, cleaned and pressed. The print is gently faded with variations in blue density and small irregularities from previous household use. PIECE B HAS ONE SMALL HOLE, documented and circled in the comparison photographs; Piece A is not described as having that hole. No major tears or widespread structural damage are reported. These are vintage, previously used textile sections, not unused modern yardage. Buyer should review the photographs and choose their preferred piece on Etsy.
Identification notes
Owner-supplied photos from inventory done/127, with an annotated side-by-side A/B comparison saved in done/130. Photos show identical design family of repeated cats, roosters, larger birds, peonies, spring branches and fruit.
The Etsy listing identifies two sections of a longer salvaged household cloth, approximately 90 × 44 cm each, available individually. Where still connected, a joint order can be sent as one continuous piece around 180 × 44 cm.
The piece labelled B has a small hole; the annotated condition photograph clearly marks its location. A and B may differ slightly in fading and print density. The damaged portion is not digitally repaired or hidden.
Printing appears to be a pale-blue directly printed pattern on an off-white cotton ground rather than the familiar white-on-indigo paste-resist process. The original equipment used to make this exact print is not documented; no unsupported woodblock technique or indigo dye chemistry is asserted.
This is a particularly distinctive characterful animal-and-flower print. Cats give a domestic, playful accent, while the rooster, long-tailed birds, flowering branches and peony-like blossoms belong to wider Chinese decorative conventions.
The original folk pattern name and the printer’s intended associations are unknown. Associations with good fortune, vitality, prosperity and renewal are contextual interpretations, not established historical captions for this particular cloth.
As salvaged vintage cotton, it is best handled with care and may suit bags, patches, textile artwork, small cushion panels, slow stitching, doll clothes and cat-themed sewing.
A folk garden inhabited by two cats
The paired cats are unusual and appealing characters in the design, seated on a branch amid birds and flowers. Their slightly solemn faces and irregular linework give the textile a particularly lively folk-print character.
The rooster often suggests the arrival of morning, vitality and good fortune in Chinese decorative contexts. Peony-like flowers are frequently associated with prosperity; the surrounding birds and fruit evoke a lively spring garden. Meanings here are interpretive rather than fixed by a known maker.
Unlike a framed folk tableau, the animals and peonies repeat over the entire narrow width, making each surviving A or B section suitable for a small fabric project while preserving a recognisable part of the original pattern.
