Page 101 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

a four-claw dragon (mang, 蟒) in profile amid clouds above
early-seventeenth-century costume for an opera singer who
rounded billows breaking against triple peaks (Lot 617). The would be portraying the emperor (Lot 621). It imitates the style
blue ground color and profile mang would have signaled of Ming dynasty court dress in the choice of red, the official
its wearer as a fourth-rank imperial prince. The design color of dynasty, and in the embroidered dragons looping over
convention featuring large dragons extending down the front the shoulders and in a band across the skirt. However, the
and back of the robe with smaller ones at the shoulders designer of the embroidery carefully avoided the proscriptions
extending down to the arms was adapted from sixteenth- of unauthorized use of the imperial symbol by replacing the
century Ming court robes styles but adjusted for the more five-clawed paws of the imperial dragon (long, 龙) with deer
form-fitting shapes with narrow sleeves used at the Qing hooves, thus making it entirely another beast with its wide-open
court. mother-of-pearl eyes.
The Qing court instituted a new decorative arrangement with While the emperor awarded rank in the military and civil
two sets of dragons—front-facing dragons at the shoulder, bureaucracies, acquiring the appropriate attire to signal that
chest and back and profile dragons in pairs at the front and status fell to individuals and their families. The sixteenth-
back and a single beast under the front overlapping panel. century embroidered flying fish dragon ( feiyu, 飞鱼) badge (
This became standard by the early eighteenth century. buzi, 補子), while not part of the official bureaucracy, would
The bright yellow color of a fragmentary embroidered satin have marked its wear as an individual who had been honored
semiformal court coat (jifu, 吉服) was reserved for the by the court, often for scholarly achievement. This badge,
emperor, his empress and his mother, the empress dowager originally worked on dark blue silk, has been reworked on a
(Lot 624). The sensitive design and superb execution of light blue silk (Lot 635).
this example, as well as the circular long-life characters Rank badges adorned the chests and backs of red robes
(wan shou, 卍壽) suggest it was ordered for the Yongzheng during the Ming dynasty and dark colored surcoats in the
Emperor (r. 1723-1735). The robe had been tailored with Qing. Qing badges exhibit a wide range of techniques and
contrasting facings at the neck. These and other aspects of level of skill in the execution of the birds (civil rank) and
the original construction have been unpicked.
animals (military ranks) within depictions of terrestrial realms
The third fabric for an embroidered dragon robe dated late within these paired squares (Lots 634, 637, 643). Such
nineteenth or early twentieth century, had been created extreme variation suggests a range of price points, something
specifically for the Guangxu Emperor (r. 1875-1908). The that was irrelevant for imperial silks.
design features the standard disposition of dragons against Foreign trade was responsible for the influx of silver from the
a ground of blue stylized 10,000 symbols (wan, 卍) on pale New World beginning in the sixteenth century. It stimulated the
yellow silk (see Lot 623). The Twelve Symbols of Imperial growth of a money economy, changing structures of payments
Authority are arranged in three groups of four: the sun, for taxes and employment. Stability during the early Qing
the moon, constellation and mountain around the neck; witnessed a rapid increase in population and the pressure to
the fu symbol, axe, paired dragons, and golden pheasant expand silk production due to its ability to earn the highest
around the body; and the pair of libation cups, aquatic grass, returns of all agricultural pursuits. The Qing government also
grains of millet and flames around lower body.
encouraged sericulture directly with schemes to increase
The first two garments had been sent to Tibet, the third to the planting of mulberry trees, the buying of cocoons directly
Mongolia where each was reconfigured to meet expectations from producers, and the recruitment of skilled sericulturists
of non-Chinese national styles. Gifting imperial textiles and to teach the craft to areas beyond the lower Yangtze basin. By
garments to foreign leaders has a long history in China. exempting mulberry trees, silkworms and silk textiles from
Often interpreted as the altruistic gesture of a caring and taxation, cash crops like silk became essential to meet tax
benevolent emperor, sending imperial fabrics to non-silk payments on land, contributing to inflation. Higher prices and
producing regions was an important aspect of building larger profits encouraged increasingly complex trade networks.
alliances and creating dependency on the Chinese state. In The commercialization of silk rapidly increased production far
the case of Tibet, it is likely the two robes or yardages were beyond the imperial output. By the mid-Qing period there were
out of date, hence superfluous to Qing imperial needs. A an additional 40,000 plus looms in operation in the Jiangning
Twelve-Symbol-robe yardage in Mongolia is rare. The overall region. With the collapse of the Qing dynasty, the system of
pink and turquoise tonality, possibly a result of poor-quality imperial workshops providing luxury goods for the court came
aniline dyes, may have led to rejection by the Household to a halt.
Department Office and its shipment out of Beijing.
1. Pang, H. (2021). “The Multiple Siyin Half Seals: Reconsidering the Dianli jicha si (1373–1384)
Most silks used within the empire during the Ming and Argument.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 134(3), 361–383.
Qing dynasties were not produced by imperial workshops. 2. Schaefer, Dagmar ; Kuhn, Dieter (2002). Weaving an Economic Pattern in Ming Times
(1368–1644): The Production of Silk Weaves in the State-Owned Silk Workshops. Heidelberg:
A stunning example of private workshop production is the edition forum. 1 ed.
3. https://glam.uoregon.edu/fabricofcollecting/page/sites-of-imperial-silk-workshops
199