Four Seasons Flowers — Nantong Indigo Quilt Cover
A large three-panel household quilt cover whose resist-printed Four Seasons flowers and historic patch repair preserve both auspicious symbolism and the evidence of long domestic use.
- Object ID
- TA-NT-0006
- Origin
- Nantong · Jiangsu, China
- Period
- c. 1950s–1960s
- Dating confidence
- probable
- Material
- Homespun cotton
- Dimensions
- Approx. 180 × 117 cm
- Technique
- Handwoven ground cloth · Blue resist printing / Lan Yin Hua Bu (蓝印花布) · Hand-joined household textile
- Pattern
- Four Seasons flowers · Peony · Lotus · Plum blossom · Chrysanthemum
- Colours
- Deep indigo-style blue · Natural white
- Washed
- Yes
Object condition
Genuinely used vintage condition with small holes, fading, wear, old joining seams and an original patch repair. The cotton is thin, soft and flexible, with an aged blue surface and visible old-yarn texture.
Identification notes
The textile is constructed from three narrow cotton panels joined by hand, reflecting the way larger bedding textiles were built from traditional narrow loom widths.
The repeating floral program combines peony, lotus, plum blossom and chrysanthemum — a Four Seasons design carrying wishes for prosperity, harmony, renewal and longevity through the household year.
In Nantong, older blue resist-printed cotton is also historically described as 药斑布 (yaoban bu). A stencil and resist paste protected pale areas before blue dyeing.
The exact dye composition has not been laboratory tested; the working catalog therefore describes the surface as indigo-style blue resist printing.
Use, repair and the Four Seasons household
The visible historic patch is retained as part of the object record rather than treated as damage to erase. It records a previous household decision to mend the cloth and continue using it.
The combination of narrow joined panels, wear, repair and auspicious seasonal flowers makes this piece especially useful for reading domestic textile life rather than viewing old cloth only as sewing material.
