Imperial German Chinese-made Trapunto - SMS Ilkis 1902.
This Imperial German naval trapunto is embroidered Zur Erinnerung, Weihnachten 1702 ( In memory of Christmas 1702) and is likely Chinese-made embroidery done in the style of the more elaborate and more mutinously stitched trapuntos from Japan. The design consists of the Hollenzollern shield as the arms on the Imperial German Eagle, which is depicted in front of the German national flag and ensign. The piece is personalized and dated to the S.M.S.Ilkis (Polecat) 1902.

The S.M.S Ilkis was a small torpedo boat assigned to the German East Asia Squadron at Tsingtao, China. The German East Asia Squadron of the Imperial German Navy was stationed in the Pacific from the mid-1890s until the outbreak of WWI. Along with her sister torpedo boats - the Jaguar, Tiger, Luchs (Jaguar, Tiger and Lynx - The Imperial German Navy named Torpedo boats after cats!), the Ilkis patrolled Chinese waters protecting German economic and political interests.

Launched in 1898 and scuttled at Tsingtao in 1914, the SMS Ilkis was one of the smaller vessels of the German East Asia Squadron. As such, it is likely that the German sailor that acquired this embroidery did it in China rather than Japan as it lacks the traditional Japanese attention to detail.

Trapuntos are an ornately embroidered commemorative fabric. Making a trapunto involves the addition of padding behind a piece of silk, upon which elaborate designs are embroidered to create a three-dimensional image. It was not uncommon for trapuntos created at this time to contain many patriotic symbols.

Many trapuntos were made and sold by the George Washington Co. in Yokohama, Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their market included soldiers and sailors stationed in the Far East from major world powers and besides this Imperial German example; American, British, Norwegian and Irish trapuntos are known to exist.

Provenance: Acquired in 2007 from Germany.

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