Ge Jia Batik Panel with Geometric Motif

Cobalt zigzags circle a dark cloth like a maze with good manners.

This Ge Jia batik cotton panel with geometric motif is Ge Jia, from Guizhou Province, China, and dates to the 20th century. The Gejia are a minority people of Guizhou Province in southwestern China, and their women are widely known for wax-resist dyeing of cotton with indigo. A rectangular textile in deep plum with vivid blue embroidered borders in stepped and zigzag bands. The central field is filled with crossed motifs and tiny dotted stitching, and the corners are neatly squared. It is 9 inches wide and 12 long.

Blue thread has seldom worked so hard to impress.