Child & Vase — Faded Nantong Blue Resist-Printed Textile
A softly timeworn blue-and-white folk textile with a rare child-and-vase composition, surrounded by floral medallions and dotted geometric forms.
- Object ID
- TA-NT-0012
- Origin
- Nantong · Jiangsu, China
- Period
- c. late 1940s–early 1950s
- Dating confidence
- estimated
- Material
- Handwoven cotton
- Dimensions
- Approx. 75 × 47 cm
- Technique
- Blue resist printing / Lan Yin Hua Bu (蓝印花布) · Handwoven cotton ground
- Pattern
- Child figure · Vase · Floral medallions · Dotted diamond lattice
- Colours
- Soft faded indigo · Natural white
- Washed
- Yes
Object condition
Softly faded, lightweight vintage textile with subtle handwoven irregularity, minor age marks, edge variation and traces of previous household use. The cloth has been gently cleaned.
Identification notes
The central pictorial motif is read as a stylised child associated with a vase and flowers, surrounded by four-petal forms, floral medallions, dotted diamond grids and small botanical devices.
The vase motif is auspicious through the association of 瓶 (ping, vase) with 平安 (ping’an, peace and safety), while child figures are traditionally connected with family continuity and future generations.
The pale design was produced through a stencil-style resist process before blue dyeing. The many separated dots and shapes are characteristic of detailed folk resist printing.
Nantong and the late-1940s / early-1950s date are informed attributions based on the cloth ground, width, resist pattern, pictorial motif and ageing rather than documented provenance.
A domestic blessing carried by a faded pictorial cloth
The surviving figurative motif allows the textile to be read as more than abstract decoration: it carries a compact household wish for peace, family happiness and continuity.
Its softened blue surface also demonstrates how use and washing can transform the visual character of resist-printed cloth without erasing its imagery.
