Posted 5 years ago
kristinaiulo
(1 item)
This hand-made piece was discovered in a collection of high-end ladies scarves. The length is 12".The "neck" opening (jade button/snap) measures 13". The bottoms of the two puffed "arms" are gathered shut. There are opening slits at the inner top of each pouch. Can someone please identify the purpose? Thank you!
Keramikos-Yes, that certainly is a possibility. All of what you wrote makes sense for dolls drawers, especially with the slits and waistband. (Although I may never find out the mystery of why they were sewed shut!) Thank you for responding and happy collecting!
Well being older than dirt I will pose an idea worth 2 cents. Back when I was young, poor and living in rural farm country, it was common for women to make Christmas gifts because there was no money to buy things. Items like this would be sewn up and stuffed for legs, then perhaps an old shirt cut sewed on and stuffed for a body along with stuffed gloves for hands, then a head made from a ball of yarn with buttons for eyes and mouth.Perhaps this was an unfinished project.
fhrjr2- That's also a possibility! Oh, boy-I would hate for a project like that to remain unfinished. Maybe I can get to it one day. Thank you and happy collecting!
This could be a garment for a newborn baby.
The band with the button would be the waist band. Baby’s bulky cloth diaper would be accommodated by the garments gathers; diaper would be easily accessible by the slits.
Legs and feet stay warm because the bottoms of the garment’s legs are stitched closed.
It's silk or satin....... discovered in a collection of high-end ladies scarves. Astonishing guesses so far.
From further out in left field...could it be simply just a 'storage bag' for (probably) a pair of 'something else-s'...?? Fancy shoes maybe, or fine silver/china, or ???
All: I just looked closely again and it appears that the slits may have been done afterwards as they are hand-sewn. The rest is machine-sewn (my error).
Keramikos: I agree that it may have had two incarnations as proposed by fhrjr2 & Watchsearcher
I'm also thinking about Asian cultures that use open-crouch pants while diaper-training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-crotch_pants
Chinese Open Crotch Pants - Often made of thick fabric, they are designed with either an unsewn seam over the buttocks and crotch or a hole over the central buttocks.
In the Wiki link there's a picture of a pair of Chinese open crotch pants. I can't manage to see the similarity.
I’ve actually been totally stunned once when I saw the open crotch Chinese children’s pants being worn by a toddler boy in a residential neighborhood of Honolulu. He was walking between his parents who were holding his hands; there was a fairly large circle cut out of the front and back of his pants. Totally bare skin, front and back!!
I figured it had to do with potty training even tho I had not heard of the practice of cutting out the genital and buttock covering fabric.
The site was priceless!
I’m wondering if the “legs” of this item are actually sewn shut or have elastic just making them look that way.
But with the stated band size of 13”, that would not fit any toddler’s waist. It might not even fit a newborn.
Keramikos, yes...the family was walking towards me in the sidewalk so I got the front view, then after we passed each other, I had to stop and look back - I couldn’t help but stare!!
I talked to coworkers the next day who knew all about the custom and could enlighten me.
They told me it was common in China and with Hawaii having such a large Asian population, I should expect to see parents continuing the customs of their home countries, especially since there are many multi-generation homes where the elders are honored and traditions upheld.
I lived there for 4 years, saw things, ate things, did things, learned things I would never have dreamed of.....Memories for a lifetime!
I knew 2 people personally who had barely ventured off the island of Oahu!
Both born there. One man in his 40s, a mechanic, had visited the Big Island once. He was totally happy on an island roughly 35 X 45 miles across.
The other man, in his 60s had gone to Vegas twice and to New York once but visited Maui relatives occasionally. He also felt that he had all he ever wanted right there.
I was fortunate to go “off-island” every few months for various lengths of time. But I never felt uncomfortable or isolated even tho I knew at least 2500 miles of water separated me from the mainland. We even had Hurricane Iniki when I lived there but that, too, was an adventure in my mind. ;-D
These piece have been altered and by look of seams and the sewing on them perhaps by a young girl to make something just what I am not sure but perhaps fhr is on to something with his comment .
My first thought was bags for storing jewelry when traveling. Maybe one side for a necklace and the other side for bracelet, brooch, ear rings, etc. Some of the nicer hotels I have stayed in have provided jewelry bags for their guests.
I thank you all for your interesting, collaborative and thought-provoking comments. They all do seem like they could work in some way. Happy collecting!
So sorry! I thought I had responded. The gathered ends are gathered and sewn permanently shut with thread, not elastic. There is a tiny opening, maybe 1/8-1/4". Could it maybe have been repurposed to have held thread, yarn, etc? And it got pulled down through the opening?
That is also a good idea- a lady knitting could keep her yarn contained, especially if traveling with it.
I also wondered if the lovely scarves could have been rolled (to prevent wrinkling) and stored in the bag when the lady traveled.
we love a mystery on CW, I keep thinking of hidden pockets, don't know the size, but seems to crude to be anything but underneath something else.
Asian female wardrobes contained all sorts of hand stitched silk garments, some functional and hidden. The Japanese ceremonial kimono for instances has many layers and pieces which we don't even see. Another good avenue to venture on with this item. Thanks keramikos.