1142 Antique Manila Manton Silk Shawl with Shrines

Antique Double Sided Embroidery Manila Manton - Cantonese Embroidery with Shrines

Superb Dense Manila Manton

Made in Canton, China 1900-1920

Antique shawl with multicolor silk embroidery on a black silk ground,

Profusely embroidered with Chinese village scene design with a variety of buildings, pagoda temples, shrines, birds and flowers completely covering the shawl.

The embroidery is double-sided and in a casual glance it is hard to tell which is the correct side.

How was this double sided embroidery done? No knots in the embroidery? How does the thread stay in place if there is no knot? These complexities make the craft within the textile as powerful as the cultural story contained within it.

There is a hand knotted macramé black silk fringe which measures 22 inches long surrounding the entire shawl with rounded corners.

The shawls fabric square measures 46 by 46 inches.

This magnificent quality made Manton de Manila Canton Chinese Cantonese style shawl is quite heavy weighing almost 4 pounds.

Excellent piece for use as a style accessory or as a collectible!

Also known as Piano Shawl, Fringed Flapper Shawl & Flamenco Shawl.

 The lives of Manila Mantons covered 3 regions: China, Philippines & Spain. Produced in Canton, they were named after the trading port Manila and finally used and coveted by women in Spain (and later other Spanish colonies) a few centuries ago.

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This item has spent a lifetime being used for the purpose of its creation with the original artist/user. Signs of this life lived heartily may be present on the piece in the form of stains, thread loss, loose threads, holes, tears, color run and other imperfections. Therefore the condition must be assumed to be “not” perfect. More photos of such imperfections will be provided on request.

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