draft WOMAN'S NON OFFICIAL, SEMI FORMAL PAIRED APRONS Han Chinese Woman's Wedding or Festival Skirt 1900 1920 China Silk ground, silk and gilt paper-wrapped embroidery threads, silk and gilt paper-wrapped ribbon trim, cotton waistband Han Chinese women wore skirts consisting of two matching "aprons," decorated in like manner and attached to a single waistband. The red silk damask ground of this skirt indicates that it will be worn on a festive occasion, as does the embroidered ornament of a phoenix and dragon worked in gilt paper-wrapped threads couched (sewn with small stitches from underneath) to the surface. The combination of dragon and phoenix, representing the balance of male and female power, relates to the emperor and empress-common motifs found on wedding clothes. In this context, the butterflies worked in reverse appliqué at the corners of the center panel are symbols of marital happiness. Blue satin streamers, embroidered and piped in satin, also raise the status of this skirt above the ordinary. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. William H. B. Howard, Joppa, Maryland, BMA 2009.206