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Over sleeves are common decorations for women’s garments, usually in a narrow and long shape. Within the limited space, artists can arrange beautiful designs in an ingenious way, which can be seen from this work. In the upper part, there are a number of Western buildings; two loaded wooden boats are floating downstream; in the middle, there is a building, like a bridge or a dam, standing across the river, but it forms a certain angle with the river shores instead of directly facing the front; two steamboats with banners and flags fluttering are coming rapidly; in the lower part, there are traditional Chinese buildings fenced by walls with arrow mounds. It is speculated that the artist intends to reflect the phenomenon “Introduction of Western customs to the East”. Twining stitch is applied throughout the work, with rigorous stitches, smooth lines and diversified colors. The technique of color fading is used in depicting mountains, buildings and ships’ rails, so as to create a gorgeous effect.
