Miao Festival "Hundred Bird Coat"

Hundreds of hours of embroidery, ending in a hem of white feathers.

This Miao festival "Hundred Bird Coat" comes from the Miao peoples of southeastern Guizhou Province, China, and dates to the early to mid 20th century. It is feather, pulped silk, spun silk and cotton, with embroidery and seed beads. Miao men wore such coats at major festivals, notably those honoring ancestors, when feathered dress recalled birds that appear in Miao origin stories. Medallions and spirals in pink, blue and green cover the chest, dark blue sleeves spread wide, and long embroidered panels hang below. Sixty-two inches wide and forty-seven high.

It was not made for standing still.