Page 86 - Bonhams Chinese Paintings and Works of Art Sept 15, 2015

8091

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JON ERIC RIIS
LOTS 8091-8098

8091

A CHESTNUT EMBROIDERED GAUZE CHILD’S ‘DRAGON’ ROBE

Jiaqing period

The delicate gauze embellished with eight couched gold five-clawed Compare a similar robe illustrated by M. Myers, Silks for Thrones and

dragons, four front-facing and four reaching upwards towards a Altars, Blanchard, 2003, p. 66, no. 28, which the author describes

flaming pearl of wisdom, the Eight Buddhist Symbols, bajixiang, as ‘quasi-official,’ and suggests that it would have been worn at

woven on each side amid scattered cloud scrolls, all above bats and personal and seasonal celebrations within a family context. Such

precious objects emerging from foaming waves crashing against high family occasions would mirror the court functions of the time, with

rocks, the interior flap with bats and cloud scrolls. the patriarch and matriarch viewed as emperor and empress within

36in (92cm) long the family, and similar gradations of status conferred on family

$30,000 - 50,000 members and reflected in their apparel. This would achieve the

sense of universal order and harmony within the family context which

清嘉慶 栗色紗納繡祥雲金龍紋童袍 the emperor embodied on a larger scale for the nation. The close

resemblance of boy’s dress to an adult’s encourages the son to

The present robe is rare in that it appears to be based on official emulate the status and importance of the father.

court clothing, such as the following lot 8092, but it is nevertheless

made for a child, who would not have been permitted to attend

court functions - except an Emperor himself in his minority, which

would not be the case in the late 18th or early 19th century.

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