Vietnamese Embroidery Fragment

Embroidery arrived relatively late in Vietnam, dating to the 15th century when a mandarin returning from China introduced it to palace workshops. It is similar to Chinese embroidery with minor differences in the coloring which is more complex and drawing which has sharper lines.

One of the distinguishing features of Korean embroidery is the prevalent usage of couching technique to give it a third dimension. Couching technique, which is widely used in different parts of the world, is a method of attaching the embroidery threads to the ground fabric without having to go through the ground with threads that are too thick, too textured or too fragile. Threads, chords or even shaped pieces of cardboard are laid on top of the fabric and anchored to it with much finer threads that do not damage the ground and often are almost invisible.

In this fragment, likely part of a large wall hanging, the couching is employed on the bird and all the flowers, leaves and branches. It raises the body of the bird by a quarter of an inch. The anchoring threads are attached with very fine chain stitch silk to a satin ground.