Footnotes

十九世紀晚期 藏藍地納紗繡錦雞紋二品文官補服

Provenance: Linda Wrigglesworth, London, early 1980's.

來源：二十世紀八十年代早期，倫敦Linda Wrigglesworth

Qing Court officials could be recognised by their Court surcoat, or outer coat bufu, such as the present example. A pair of identical insignia badges buzi, were embroidered directly on the back and chest of the garment, indicating the high rank of the wearer. The fact that the badge is embroidered directly into the silk ground further reinforces the high status and wealth of the wearer. This feature in fact made it impossible for the rank badge to be substituted with another as the wearer received a promotion, which happened often amongst the lower ranks of officialdom.

When the Qing dynasty was established in 1644, regulations concerning rank badges were among the first edicts enacted by the Manchu government. The shapes of the badges conveyed religious and philosophical concepts that were themselves tied to the maintenance of social order.

Following the publication of the 'Imperial Regulations', edited in 1759 by the Qianlong Emperor, calf-length, centre-fastening surcoats became mandatory for formal occasions. All who appeared at Court were required to wear a bufu, which was made of either dark blue or purple-black silk. It was loose-fitting, opening down the centre front, and had side and back vents. The three-quarter-length sleeves and the mid-calf length of the garment enabled the official to show off the sleeves extensions, the horseshoe-shaped cuffs and the lishui hem of the 'Court' or 'dragon' robes underneath. In addition, the simple shape of the coat made it an ideal 'canvas' for the badges of rank attached to the front and back, clearly defining their rank for all to see; see V.Garrett, Chinese Dress From the Qing Dynasty to Present, North Clarendon VT, 2008, p.75.

The golden pheasant, shown in a finely-delineated terrestrial diagram, corresponds to the Second-Rank civil official. Although the Manchu, on assuming power, made a break in Chinese tradition and retained their own national costume, in 1652 they brought back the Ming custom of indicating rank by insignia squares, demarcating the nine ranks of civil officials by birds embroidered on the squares and the military rank grades by animals.

Compare with a very similar dark-blue gauze silk surcoat, late 19th century, illustrated by J.Vollmer, 'Clothed to Rule the Universe: Ming and Qing Dynasty Textiles at The Art Institute of Chicago', in Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol.26, no.2, p.20, pl.III.

See also a pair of related kesi 'goose' badges, 19th century, which was sold at Christie's London, 15 May 2013, lot 727.