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Bonnie Bousquet-Smith - The Emperor and his Bird
Category: Sculpture.
Stitches used include: peyote stitch (flat and tubular), brick stitch (flat and tubular), right-angle weave (flat and tubular), nbedele or herringbone (flat and tubular), applique, chevron stitch, and the artist’s own original stitch which forms the feathers and beak.
This is a story which Hans Christian Andersen used to tell to neighborhood children. It was so well liked it became a world wide favorite.
The story tells of a Chinese emperor who loves the sound of a bird he has not seen. lie becomes obsessed with its melody. Friends give him an ornately decorated mechanical bird who plays another melody. When he sees how plain the real nightingale is in comparison to the mechanical bird he begins to favor the mechanical bird. The nightingale, knowing he is not wanted, flies away. Then the mechanical bird breaks. The emperor gets sick and is on the verge of dying. The emperor’s subjects search the kingdom, find the nightingale, and bring it to sing for the emperor. Upon hearing it, he gets better. The nightingale agrees to come sing for him everyday in return for the freedom to come and go as he chooses.