Two framed panels of Southern Chinese embroidery of a pheasant and peacock. Actual size of each embroidery is 15 inches wide and 31 inches high. The designs are executed in colorful silk and gold threads. They represent the work of skilled workers in Guangzhou (Canton) capital of Guangdong Province who met the demands for quality and sophisticated designs by the fashion minded patrons of the 1920's period. The peasant is an emblem of beauty and good fortune while the peacock signifies beauty and activates luck, and fame. The gold threads are sewn on to the fabric by couching and the color threads by the satin stitch. Both required good eyesight and precision work. These two panels were front and back panels of a black pleated skirt, a formal skirt worn with a short jacket by society women in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore.
In very good condition, colors and gold threads faded a little.