Three different Shen embroidery masterpieces themed with horses are displayed in the Shen Shou Art Museum in Nantong, Jiangsu province. The left masterpiece was created by Shen Shou in 1918. The Shen embroidery masterpiece in the middle was created following celebrated Chinese painter Xu Beihong’s painting as a gift to other countries. The work on the right is based on a painting by Nantong master Fan Zeng. [Photo/wenming.cn]

“Emulational embroidery”, or Shen embroidery, is the embroidery created by Shen Shou (1874-1921), a famous modern embroidery master, and her students. It was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of China in 2008.

Examples of Shen embroidery, such as Obama’s Family, President Putin's Portrait and Belgian King Philip’s Family made a stir as gifts to those dignitaries when Chinese leaders visited the White House, the Kremlin and the Belgian Maison du Roi.

A Shen embroidery masterpiece, Pan Pan, based on celebrated Chinese art master Han Meilin’s painting, was created in this spring over 100 days. [Photo/zgnt.net]

This Shen embroidery masterpiece, based on a new painting by Nantong master Fan Zeng, was created in 2018. [Photo/zgnt.net]

Shen embroidery masterpieces [Photo/zgnt.net]