Textiles and Stuff 

This is an old embroidered Chinese child’s hat which was made especially for a festival and embroidered by hand. It has a basic cap shape, open at the top, in magenta cotton sateen, with black binding and narrow braid at the edge. The design is of a fierce dragon (or perhaps a tiger) with ears that stick up above the rim of the crown, large bosses for eyes and embroidered wings at the sides. The nose is in the shape of a fish and there are smaller fishes at the sides which all bear up to five “whiskers” or coloured tassels on sprung wires. There are also small blue motifs on springs each side of the nose. All sections are beautifully embroidered in silk and metallic thread. At the back of the hat there is a long panel in magenta satin which hangs down at the back of the neck. The hat is lined in light blue cotton. There is some wear on the lining inside the hat and there is a small slit in the neck of the fish which makes up the nose, but otherwise the hat is in excellent condition for its age and the colours are bright and unfaded. It would make an excellent addition to a collection.