Page 100 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

AN APPRECIATION OF

IMPERIAL CHINESE TEXTILES

JOHN E. VOLLMER

extiles on offer in this sale reveal a variety of roles silk 1426 (Lot 629). The half seal impression at the extreme left
fabrics played within the protocols of the late Chinese suggests this copy was entered into the imperial collection so
Timperial state. For more than five thousand years, silk the object could be verified by comparing the other half of the
textiles contributed to the displays of status and privilege impression to another in the collection inventories. 1
among China’s ruling elites. Sericulture, the cultivation of the Due to civil unrest, imperial silk workshops ceased production
Bombyx mori moth, practiced in the myriad of agricultural in 1628. The Qing dynasty (1644-1911) claimed the dragon
households in regions where white mulberry trees flourished, throne by conquest. Fighting between the Manchu and Ming
raised the cocoons that, when unwound, produced silk loyalists in Yangtze River basin during the 1640s witnessed
filament. Throughout history, silk in the form of yarns and the physical destruction of the Ming workshops and looms.
cloth had been used to pay land taxes, as well as meet the Even the groves of mulberry trees in the region necessary to
assessments of tribute to the court. While silk had long been feed the silkworms were extensively damaged when Manchu
an economic driver, during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), armies used them as pasture for their horses. However,
a significant percentage of silk production became a state- once in control of the capital in Beijing, the Qing government
controlled industry.
quickly focused on restoring agricultural production,
The first Ming emperor established a centralized system of including sericulture. Qing imperial silkworks largely re-
state-run workshops to produce the textiles required by the established Ming dynasty practices and the government overall economy and the growing commercialization of deluxe of pine, bamboo, and prunus, a theme known as ‘The Three
throne. The standards and quotas set during the fourteenth rebuilt workshops in Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, as well silk textiles throughout the empire and abroad. Friends of Winter’ (suihan sanyou, 歲寒三友) with narcissus is
century remained in force until the dynasty’s end. The as an operation in Beijing. Yet, unlike the previous dynasty, Soft furnishings were a major component of the annual a stunning example of a new year’s gift (Lot 626). All textiles
production was regulated by four government-controlled these were placed under the direct control of the emperor quotas during both dynasties. Rooms used for the daily produced by imperial workshops were in fact the personal
agencies: three dealt with garments and fabrics required through the office of the Imperial Household Department. or ritual activities of members of the imperial household property of the emperor. Whether made explicitly for the
by the emperor and members of court, as well as textiles Outsourcing was widely used to increase supplies. required appropriate matching sets of chair drapes, emperor or created for others, these fabrics were personal
necessary for ritual and official imperial purposes, including By edict, Ming imperial silk production employed nearly table frontals, cushion covers and other portable textiles. expressions of imperial largesse.
silks for tributary and commendatory use; a fourth functioned 5,000 personnel, operated 350 looms and produced more Examples, like the pair of late-seventeenth-century tapestry- The emperor and his family also demanded exacting
as a commissioning agency for additional silk production to than 18,000 bolts of silk annually. By the late sixteenth woven (kesi, 缂丝) chair panels (Lot 618), decorated with attention to detail for their clothing. Specific colors conveyed
meet fluctuations in court demands that could not be met century, ‘additional production’ produced between 35,000 both a dragon and phoenix—a reference the emperor and political and ritual significance. Similarly, décor expressed
due to the restrictions imposed by guidelines laid down by the to more than 90,000 bolts of silk and up to 300 garment empress—suggests they may have been ordered for an imperial intention and decorum. During the Qing period,
founding emperor. The early statutes also set up twenty-four yardages annually. By contrast, during the second half of the imperial wedding. the Imperial Household Department initiated annual dress
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regional imperial silk workshops across the empire, which eighteenth century under Qing management, the number of orders by preparing reduced scale line drawings depicting the
produced other ‘pattern production’ goods for tribute and looms employed in the imperial service had increased over The monumental, embroidered panel with a pair of flying front and back of a garment, one half of each garment was
commendation required by the court, such as the figured five-fold, reaching a total of 2,100. This significant change phoenixes among scrolling stems with peony and lotus rendered in full color. These, as well as written instructions
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silk fabric which serve as the ground for the edict dated to blossoms, set against a cloud-filled ground (Lot 620), was
reflected the changing role of silk and sericulture within the concerning materials, linings and trims, once approved by
intended to hang on the wall of reception room behind a throne
for the empress or principal consort of the emperor. Missing its the emperor, were dispatched to the appropriate weaving or
valance and decorative pair of streamers, the panel, composed embroidery workshop for execution. When all the required
of six loom length of imperial-yellow-dyed silk, may have fabrics were completed, they were packaged together and
remained unfinished during the eighteenth century when it sent to the capital for the inspection by the Household
was made. The ensemble of soft furnishings for such a setting Department. If approved, the bundles of yardages were stored
would have included a matching embroidered cushion cover in the imperial wardrobe to await orders for tailoring into
for the throne, not unlike one from another set embroidered on garments.
apricot yellow silk satin for a lower-ranking consort (Lot 619). A rare late-seventeenth-century Qing court robe with woven
design employing discontinuous supplemental gold-wrapped
Other textiles for the wall, when mounted like hanging scrolls,
were treated as art pieces. A tapestry-woven (kesi) picture and colored untwisted silk threads on a satin ground, features
196 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 197