
Bruce Maclaren
Global Head, Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy
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Sold for US$18,825 inc. premium
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Global Head, Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy
晚清 緙絲彩繪瓜蝶綉球紋夾袍
The use of decorative roundels in Chinese textiles dates to the Tang dynasty (618-906). The motifs contained within--here repeated on the cuffs and collar--are dictated by the wearer's position in society and also the occasion. Whereas dragons would be worn for the most formal imperial events and ceremony, floral imagery would be appropriate for domestic affairs. See John Vollmer, Clothed to Rule the Universe Ming and Qing Dynasty Textiles at The Art Institute of Chicago, p. 73.
Similar examples are illustrated by Robert D. Jackson, Imperial Silks: Ch'ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, vol. I, Minneapolis, 2000, nos. 97, 98, 101, 102.