Page 108 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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A RED-GROUND SILK WOVEN ‘DRAGON’ ROBE collection and now in the Palace Museum, Beijing, as AN IMPERIAL APRICOT-GROUND ‘DRAGON’ 清末 杏黃地萬字錦紋十二章金龍袍
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY illustrated in Qingdai gongting fushi / Costumes and ROBE
Accessories of the Qing court, Hong Kong, 2005, pl. 111.
Height 54¼ in., 137.8 cm; Length 74¾ in., 189.9 cm LATE QING DYNASTY 來源
Compare also a robe with similar pattern, but with four-claw 耕織堂收藏
PROVENANCE dragon, illustrated in Wang Jinhua, Zhongguo chuantong Height 58¼ in., 148 cm; Length 94½ in., 240 cm
fushi. Qingdai fuzhuang [Traditional Chinese costumes. 展覽
Geng Zhi Tang Collection. PROVENANCE
Qing costumes], Beijing, 2015, pp 66–67; another example, 佛光緣美術館，墨爾本，2001至2002年
The current kesi robe is a rare example of a jifu (semi-formal also on a red ground but decorated with medallions of plum Geng Zhi Tang Collection.
robe) for noble ladies within the Qing imperial family. The blossoms, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, from the EXHIBITED
robe is decorated with eight dragon roundels, three in the Qing imperial collection, with a yellow note attached and
front, three at the back and two at each shoulder, all above dated to Daoguang period, illustrated in Gugong fushi tudian Foguanyuan Art Gallery, Melbourne, 2001-2002.
the mountain and wave patterns at the bottom, a formal / Illustrated Dictionary of Qing Dynasty Court Costumes,
design exclusive for imperial ladies in the Qing court. The Beijing, 2018, pl. 65. $ 40,000-60,000
dragons on this robe each have two claws, indicating that
it was made for a concubine of the emperor’s grandson $ 30,000-50,000
or great-grandson. The two-claw dragon was not formally
included in the Qing regulations published during the mid- 清十八世紀 大紅地緙絲彩織八團龍袍
Qianlong period, leaving very few extant examples.
The only example with two-claw dragons found in 來源
publications is a green jifu robe from the Qing imperial 耕織堂收藏

212 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION OF CHINESE TEXTILES 213