Short Chinese Jacket

A woman’s jacket or informal surcoat embroidered with peonies, orchids, bats, and butterflies and waves at the bottom borders. The jacket is embroidered in satin stitch and Peking knot or forbidden stitch. The forbidden stitch resembles a minuscule circle with a dimple in the center, formed by winding thread around an embroidery needle three or four times, then plunging it through the middle of the coil and fabric.

Floral imagery was linked to the seasons to be in harmony with nature, an ideal in Chinese cultural tradition.