Woolen needlepoint tapestry is woven by skilled artisans with colored wool yarn on canvas, in patterns depicting human figures, landscapes, flowers, birds or animals. Exquisite in needlework, delightful in color scheme, vivid in design and rich in setting, these display pieces are an art and handicraft for homes.
The origins of woolen tapestry can be traced back to 14th-century Germany, where clothes and wall carpets of peasants featured geometric woven patterns. It came into fashion in England between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Woolen needlepoint tapestries were first introduced to Shanghai by foreign merchants and missionaries around the 1840s, when the city was forced to open up as a trading port. Local artisans in Shanghai integrated traditional Chinese embroidery techniques into Western woolen needlepoint tapestry and created their own style, which later proudly became known as the Shanghai-style woolen tapestry.
Brilliant, bright and detailed portrait works epitomize the Shanghai-style woolen tapestry, as they are said to have the reality of photography and the artistry of painting, giving viewers a very strong artistic appeal.
Yet, these well-crafted, hand-woven tapestries don't come into existence without painstaking efforts - a medium-sized portrait usually takes six to 12 months to finish, with hundreds of thousands of weaves. Due to the huge labor and time cost to create a woolen tapestry work, fewer people today are willing to take up the craft, despite its former glory.
Bao Yanhui, the former manager of a woolen needlepoint tapestry factory in Shanghai, has been endeavoring to preserve the artwork and craft. In 2000, he set up a company that specializes in handmade woolen tapestry in an attempt to promote the style.
Together with a group of skilled artisans, Bao has created a large number of woolen tapestry works that hang in the rooms of the Great Hall of the People and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Many of his other works have been collected by art institutes across the country.
Thanks to Bao's unremitting efforts in preserving and promoting woolen tapestry over the past decade, the needlecraft was listed as an item of intangible national cultural heritage in 2011. Yet, like many other such fields in China, woolen tapestry is facing a drastic shortage of practitioners.
Bao says the average age of artisans in his company is now nearly 60, meaning most of them are soon to retire. On the other hand, Bao also believes that centuries-old woolen tapestry not only needs fresh blood, but also innovative designs to keep evolving.
Accordingly, Bao resorted to his own son, Bao Li, for novel ideas. Bao Li, a graphic designer, infuses fashion into traditional Chinese embroidery.
"We should draw inspiration from today's fashion trends and make woolen tapestry more accessible to everyday people's daily life," Bao Li told the Global Times.
Bao Li has developed woolen tapestry table mats, purses, shoes and even toys. His father has also registered a label of woolen tapestry items for daily use. Some of their products are now available in some designer shops in Shanghai and Beijing.
