This deceptively simple-looking embroidery uses highly sophisticated needlework to depict the ducks’ feathers, their webbed feet, the grassy river bank, and the flowing river water. Swimming ducks were a popular motif on the decorative arts of this period, not least because the underwater sections of the ducks offered excellent opportunities for craftsmen to display their technical skills. A metalwork example [EA1956.1787] is also shown here. (Exhibition number 9)
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 9 November 2012-27 January 2013, Threads of Silk and Gold: Ornamental Textiles from Meiji Japan, Clare Pollard, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2012), no. 9 p. 100, illus. pp. 98-100
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