W450xL700mm, China
This costume belonged to the Sanjiang Dong Tribe of the Guangxi area.
The garment is made with handwoven fabric with brocade trimming around the collar and placket, a decorative embroidery trimming is added to the bottom of the jacket. It would be worn as an opened jacket revealing the embroidered du dou that is worn underneath.
L700mm, Thailand
This smart garment belongs to the Striped Hmong tribe (Hmoob Txaij) of Thailand, they are one of the 5 hill tribes in the area between Northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. Amongst the Hmong tribes, there are 4 sub tribe – White Hmong, Green Hmong, Striped Hmong and Hmong Chinese. The Striped Hmong’s costume have striped bands on the arms.
W50xD40xH100mm, China
This is the clay toy of Dah A Fu, we have previous talked about his story in an early post “Clay Toy A-Fu“. Most of the A-Fu figurine have him seated, this is an unusual version, but from his accessories we can determined that he is A-Fu. On his head, he is wearing peony (a symbol of wealth), the costume is the five fok jacket (a symbol of ease and comfort), around his neck is a locket (a symbol of longevity). In the seated version, he is also hugging a lion with green fur (a symbol of protection from evil) and wearing a pair of court shoes (successful in the court examination). All the wishes from the parents to the child are projected onto the figurine.
China
This is a jacket designed and tailored by our shop in the style of the Miao tribe. The decorative pieces are embroidery from the Miao tribe in Gui Zhou. The red eye creature in the embroidery (can you spot it?) is a three legged toad. The toad represented wealth and good harvest. This representation is shared by an old Chinese folk story; once upon a time there was an evil monster, the young Lui Hai had him defeated and it turned out to be a three legged toad. The toad turned good and followed Lui everywhere fighting other monsters. Lui also has a habit of aiding the poor, the legend has it that the toad has the ability of bring wealth, at where he reside there is treasure. The toad became a symbol of fortune and blessing.
Mountain Folkcraft 