Blue Dragon Lattice — Nantong Treadle-Woven Homespun
A dense Nantong / Tonghai treadle-woven cloth in which dark lattice blocks, bright borders, curving-dragon lines and pepper-seed details create a highly layered surface.
- Object ID
- TA-NT-0016
- Origin
- Nantong · Tonghai region, Jiangsu
- Period
- c. 1950s–1970s
- Dating confidence
- estimated
- Material
- Handspun cotton
- Dimensions
- Approx. 180 × 43 cm total available length; sold by 50 cm
- Technique
- Handwoven homespun · Treadle / figured weave · Yarn-dyed weave
- Pattern
- Curving dragon · Pepper-seed dots · Lattice
- Colours
- Deep blue · Black · Red · Turquoise · Yellow · Green · Ivory
Object condition
Good reclaimed vintage condition overall. One long side preserves traces of former use; raw edges, seam traces, pulls, slubs, fold marks and colour variation may remain.
Identification notes
The pattern is woven from dyed yarns rather than printed on the surface.
Current local catalog language describes the flowing zigzag units as 曲龙 — curving dragons — and the fine points as pepper-seed details.
The cloth is reclaimed from an earlier garment or household textile, and one edge intentionally preserves evidence of that previous use.
Folk symbolic readings of the dragon, seed-like dots and square lattice are retained as interpretive context: protection, smooth movement, abundance and domestic stability.
A dense treadle weave built from several motif scales
This textile layers large grid structure, curving linear motifs and very small seed-like details in one loom-built composition.
Its strong relief and saturated palette make it an important comparison object for Nantong-area figured weaving.
