{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O107505"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107505/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AN3635/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AN3635/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AN3635","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O107505","accessionNumber":"FE.120-1996","objectType":"Panel","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Woven silk picture panel of former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Hangzhou Brocade Factory","id":"AUTH407024"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"silk (textile)","id":"AAT243428"}],"techniques":[{"text":"weaving","id":"AAT53642"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Figured silk woven on a jacquard mechanic loom","categories":[{"text":"Propaganda","id":"THES48902"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Portraits","id":"THES48906"},{"text":"Politics","id":"THES48908"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"EAS","id":"THES48596"},"images":["2006AN3635"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"014","id":"THES306353"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Picture","id":"x40607"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Hangzhou","id":"x40229"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1972-1976","earliest":"1972-01-01","latest":"1976-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Dr Heino Heine","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"40","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"27","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Zhou Enlai (1899-1976), respected leader of the CCP from the days of the Long March. Premier of China from 1954. Widely distributed because of their mass-production techniques, woven pictures like these were awarded to individuals for achievements at work or in the political sphere and also given to visiting 'foreign friends'. In truth, the worlds of politics and work were inseparable from each other at every level and the giving and receiving of such motivational images was designed to reinforce this link.  The pictures were woven together in a long line and only later cut into separate items.  In 1906, an innovation known as the jacquard attachment reached China. It was named after its inventor, Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752-1834), who perfected a mechanical method of producing realistic patterning and pictures on cloth. From that time on, woven pictures were a regular part of China's textile output. The jacquard replaced the drawboy at the top of the loom with a series of cards, punched according to the dictates of the design.  The weaver manipulated these, by pressing down on a pedal, as well as plying the shuttle. By itself, this invention did not do away with the need to pass the shuttle from side to side by hand nor to beat down the inserted weft thread to the edge of the already-completed fabric. Although the design is programmed by the punched cards, the loom still needs a hand operative. Repeat floral and other designs could be woven this way and the innovation was exploited to produce life-like silk pictures under the Maoist regime. The Communist pictures from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were made with jacquard mechanisms attached to power looms.  These require less strength and skill to operate and the training period is much shorter than for a hand loom.  The factory worker may oversee several power looms at a time, watching for breakdowns and faults. Similar pictures are FE.121 to FE.125-1996 and FE.28 to FE.44-1999","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Woven silk portrait of Zhou Enlai, Hangzhou Brocade Factory, China, 1972-76","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Zhou Enlai","id":"N3649"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"communism","id":"AAT55519"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["FE.120-1996"],"accessionNumberNum":"120","accessionNumberPrefix":"FE","accessionYear":1996,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-05","recordCreationDate":"2004-11-25","availableToBook":true}}