Miao Baby Carrier with Bird Motifs

A purple and black patterned cloth with a lavender-trimmed neck and sleeves.

This baby carrier with bird motifs is Miao (Hmong), from Guizhou Province, China, and dates to the 20th century. It is applique cotton & silk. The butterfly is an image important to the Miao creation myth, in which a butterfly born from a maple tree laid twelve eggs that hatched the creatures of the world, including people. Small dotted and curling motifs in violet and white spread across the central panel. A band of lilac stitched stripes edges the sleeves and the lower section, which narrows to a tab. It is 211 inches wide and 33 long.

Moody purples and tiny flourishes, all in good order.