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This is a stitch ‘painting’ that came into my possession. I have no idea if it’s Chinese or Japanese. There are no identifying marks anywhere on or around the picture. I tried looking up stitch paintings/embroidery art but there doesn’t seem to be much literature available. Can anyone please help? Are they modern? Thank you.

Your wall art may be a scene that was woven from a photograph, using a Jacquard loom. This loom, named after its French inventor, revolutionized the weaving industry in the early 19th century by allowing complex designs on fabric to be controlled with great accuracy through a series of cards with punched holes, which were similar to and considered to be predecessors of the punch cards used in nascent years of the computer industry during the 20th century.

I've seen other Jacquard-woven pictures in the forum, including a less colorful scene shown here of temple buildings in China's famous West Lake, at Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. I'm guessing that yours might be of the same Chinese landmark, and date similarly to the early-to-mid-20th century. The Japanese weaving industry had similar technology, though the temple architecture and tree-lined embankments seen in both weavings are rather remarkable.

Best regards,

Bill H.



URL Title :West Lake Woven Scene

Wow! That was most informative, Bill H. I have for a very long time been trying to find out more about such artwork but there’s not much to be found, especially with regard to those such as these. Thank you for you reply — it certainly opens up further avenues for exploration. I have always assumed they were painstakingly hand-stitched and although your reply robs them of some of that allure, I nonethless still like them very much. Thanks again...

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