This embroidered silk panel is decorated with knot-stitch and gold thread couching. The design comprise pairs of birds, butterflies and flowers outlined with gold thread.Chinese communities in Sumatra produced their own textiles and garments, which borrowed from, and in turn influenced, local traditions. Traditional Chinese embroidery techniques probably inspired the local embroidery or ‘sulaman’ tradition. Woven cloths and songket garments were often embellished with Chinese-influenced embroidery styles. Auspicious Chinese motifs such as the peony and phoenix were also combined with local motifs, such as the civet cat or ‘musang’.
