ABSTRACT
The interaction of the color of the garments with the subjects and arrangement of the embroidery on the surface embodies the “inner” aspects of the costumes, rather than the minute details found in the type of stitch or the species of flower. Embroidery was a fourth technique developed for textile embellishment. Silk threads are particularly conducive to creating excellent embroidery, and the art of stitched designs developed in China along with the evolution of the use of silk fabrics. In the early Ming dynasty, as the economy flourished, the art of embroidery became more widespread, and many young girls, even peasants, learned how to make the stitches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection in New York contains an eighteenth-century theatrical costume for a warrior that is decorated with separate panels, flanges, and appliqued shapes embroidered in satin stitches. Embroiderers spend nine to ten hours a day, seven days a week at their jobs.
