Footnotes

十九世紀早期 石青緞繡瓜瓞綿綿紋袍

Provenance: an English private collection

來源：英國私人收藏

Notable for its highly-refined embroidery depicting elegant roundels with multi-coloured designs of butterflies and double gourds, the present lot is a rare example of formal surcoats worn by the highest-ranking women of the Qing Court.

The surcoats made for the highest-ranking female members of the Qing society were decorated by eight roundels over elaborate lishui borders at the hem, such as displayed on the present lot; see V.Garrett, Dragon Robes, Oxford, 1998, p.35 and J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks. Ch'ing Dynasty Textiles from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MA, 2000, p. 54.

Garments decorated with roundels always signalled formality. This decorative scheme can be traced to the Tang dynasty and may have been influenced by Western Asian traditions; see Huang Nengfu and Chen Juanjuan, Origins of the Art of the Chinese National Costume, Beijing, 1994, p.209; see also J.Watt and A.Wardwell, When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles, New York, 1998, pp.21-29.

While the dragon-patterned roundels signified official attire, medallions decorated with seasonal flowers, butterflies, cranes and other auspicious imagery underscoring the wishes for good fortunes, wealth, happiness, typically indicated the informal nature of the occasions for which the surcoats were worn. Roundel schemes were particularly popular during the Ming dynasty for both Court and unofficial wear and the Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty appear to have continued this tradition. By the eighteenth century, the formal design of a distinct wave border at the hem appears to have become the favoured style.

Although changpao surcoats were worn by noble Manchu women, the rich symbolic intent of the decoration embroidered on them was deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Double gourds are popular symbols of longevity and are associated with Li Tiegui, one of the Eight Daoist Immortals, who is often depicted holding a double gourd containing the elixir of Immortality. Butterflies are also homophone with the character die 耋 meaning over seventy or eighty years of age, and thus express a wish for longevity. They symbolise happiness in marriage and everlasting romantic love, the latter conveyed by a number of traditional Chinese stories in which butterflies play a significant part. A story by Feng Menglong (1574-1646), for example, features the so-called 'butterfly lovers', Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, who are transformed into butterflies after death. Butterflies are also associated with the Daoist connotation of dreamlike reflection and the freedom of the soul; see Sookja Cho, Transforming Gender and Emotions. The Butterfly Lovers Story in China and Korea, Ann Harbor, MI, 2018, pp.1-13 and V.H.Mair, 'Chuang-tzu', in W.Nienhauser, Traditional Chinese Literature, vol.2, Bloomington, IN, 1998, pp.20–26.

Compare with three related blue-round silk kesi informal surcoats, mid-19th century, illustrated by J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks.Ch'ing Textiles from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MA, 2000, p.269, n.104, p.271, no.105, p.273, no.106. A related silk kesi surcoat, Yongzheng/Qianlong, was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2008, lot 83.