Fragment of plain weave silk, painted with scrolling flowering branches in colours.Fragment, painted silk, China, ca. 1820, Qing dynastyThis fragment of painted silk was produced in south China for export to the West. It is not a style that the Chinese would have used themselves. Judging by its present shape, this silk appears to have been part of a dress, a common use for this type of Chinese textile, but similar painted silks were also used for furnishings.