Hundred-Bird Festival Coat (bainiaoyi)

NameHundred-Bird Festival Coat (bainiaoyi)

Maker Artist unrecorded

CultureHundred Bird (Bianaio) Miao

Date20th century

Place madeGUIZHOU PROVINCE, China, Asia

Mediumcotton, silk thread, silk felt (flat cocoon cloth), indigo-dyed cotton “shiny cloth,” Job's Tears (seeds), chicken feathers

DimensionsOther: 66 3/4 × 52 in. (169.5453 × 132.0803 cm)

Credit LineIFAF Collection, Purchase

Object numberFA.2023.17.1

ProvenanceMuseum purchase from Congeries Consignment on Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM. According to Congeries, the consigner, a resident of Texas, purchased the coat many years ago from a textile dealer.

DescriptionLight teal coat with multicolored embroidery throughout and "flying skirt" along bottom hem consisting of narrow individual flaps with Job's tears and chicken feathers at end.

This is a festival coat with "flying skirt" worn by men and women from the Hundred Bird (Bianaio) Miao subgroup in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou province in southwest China. This coat (bainiaoyi or hundred-bird coat) is made for the Guzang Festival, a two-week long celebration that only takes place once every 13 years and was awarded status as a protected national intangible cultural heritage of China in 2006. The coat is entirely hand-sewn. The foundation is constructed from handspun, plain-weave, indigo-dyed cotton covered with indigo-overdyed silk felt and then embroidered in silk thread. The embroidery is primarily satin-stitch over papercuts in designs that reference Miao mythology (phoenix, dragons, centipede dragons, butterflies, flowers, etc.). There are also appliques of ribbons made from indigo "shiny cloth" (beaten and treated indigo-dyed cotton that has an iridescent sheen). The individual panels of the "flying skirt" are trimmed with strings of Job's Tears, chicken feathers, and triangles of indigo "shiny cloth" (Hertz, 2023).