P LA T E X Ll.
A W O M A N EM B R O ID E R IN G .
T TH ig woman is feated at a^aijabao.frame, very much refembling in
foprm fuch as-is ufed inr.Euroj^fey’mailting. The, iiool is o f porcelain.
rq.ade.iivthe forpji.of a jar. The-Chjqep. a,t.e not igtlpianfc o f the art of
.embroidering, though thqiiv.w ^b]£s o f this nature are by .no means fupe-
rior tOjlhofi^^Europcans.>^hey have a method.of emboiling upon
flowers and fant^ip,j^-ti^^in twjfbd
threads, feparat1ely^sard#iii',v^r^S'^t^tps^Jj^(d^thaijfej^i^g^them,upon
thergcpundT work.
The Perfians afcribe the invention* o f filken fluffs tot on£ o f their firft
njonarchs, hut(it is given with, greater j^ i c e m ;th e .f^ i^ |fe.-i The,ancients
believed that from the^ country o f the Sg$ea^ b y ,moderns denominated
'.China, .filkbjWas brpught-arjto Perfia, and fr^^th^iee^into Greece and
ItaJyijt although they._erred in c o n c e i v in g * b e a-y^ete^enypdjitfl'ijn,*!
Silk-,worjtnS %re*jlaid^tp h© found in iotn&pj; thte Chinefepravinees jipqn
wild mulbo-F^tru , thofcj ho'wcvir, fnjjn which the/bt/l filk prorccds,
are fed upon the young and tender leaves of: fuch trees aS j argi£eg||larly
pruned, .and, cultivated, wk^»e,^c^flsa|tenti0nvf-: The ^mpde^®weaving
the filaments fpun by thofe infedts into a fubflanlial 'texture, originated
with the ingenious natives o f 'China, though it is now very generally
known in various diftant countries. ?,*
* .Velleraque ut foliis .depcfitant tenuia Ser s.— Virg, Georg. Jib. ii. lin. 121. J