Page 352 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

345
An important Imperial silk ‘Twelve-Symbol’
yellow-ground robe, jifu
19th century
Superbly embroidered on the front and back in gold-wrapped silk
thread with nine five-clawed dragons variously coiling and full faced
below the collar, the ground densely and finely embroidered over
the front, back and inside the front fold with the Twelve Symbols of
Imperial Authority amidst a multitude of coral-red flying bats amongst
blue cloud constellations, each dragon grasping a flaming pearl
trailing coral-red flames, a dragon-decorated dark-blue-ground band
at the top of the front folded section, a band of breaking waves at
the top of the radiating multi-coloured stripe border at the shoulders
and forming the lower part of the main robe, the ribbed plain yellow
sections of the sleeves further woven with five-clawed dragon
damask roundels.
137cm (54in) from top of collar to bottom of robe; 218cm (86in) wide
across the sleeves when fully extended
£140,000 - 160,000
HK$1,700,000 - 2,000,000 CNY1,400,000 - 1,600,000
十九世紀 御製明黃地「十二章紋」龍袍
Provenance: the widow of an Ambassador to Beijing, who served in
the French Embassy there between circa 1950-60, before becoming
Ambassador in the Embassy in Rome circa 1975 (by repute)
來源： 據傳是一位駐北京大使的遺孀藏品，這位大使曾於1950至60
年駐於法國大使館，繼而於約1975年成為駐羅馬大使

348 | Bonhams