Page 109 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

284
A MANCHU WOMAN’S DARK BLUE VELVET ‘BUTTERFLIES’
INFORMAL VEST, KANJIAN
Late 19th century
This rich velvet of deep vibrant blue colour is woven as a cut velvet
waistcoat with a design of large butterflies within an inner lace-like
border of peonies and begonias and an outer border of smaller
butterflies and various floral and bamboo sprigs, finely lined with bold
pink silk damask woven with a wan pattern, with fashionable Western-
style buttons. The narrow tailoring is original reflecting the western
fashion beginning to appear in China at the end of the Qing dynasty.
87cm (34 2/8in) long.
£2,000 - 3,000
CNY18,000 - 27,000
十九世紀晚期 藍色絲絨花蝶紋坎肩
Provenance: Linda Wrigglesworth, London
來源：倫敦Linda Wrigglesworth
Sleeveless coats were known as maja or kanjian. They were introduced
by the Manchu elites of the Qing dynasty and were always worn over
other garments. The present waistcoat would have been worn by a
high-ranking female member of the Qing society during the colder
seasons, the maja coat was worn over a full-length Manchu robe
for extra warmth; see J.Vollmer, Ruling from the Dragon Throne:
Costumes of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Berkeley, CA, 2002,
pp.49-52. Compare with a slightly shorter blue-ground cut velvet
waistcoat, 19th century, in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto,
illustrated by J.Vollmer, Ruling from the Dragon Throne: Costumes of
the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Berkeley, CA, 2002, p.51, fig.2.22. See
also two similarly-shaped and fastened silk informal Manchu woman’s
informal vests, late 19th century, decorated with similar designs of
butterflies but embroidered, rather than being made of cut-velvet,
illustrated by J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks. Ch’ing Dynasty Textiles In the 284
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MA, 2000, pp.606-607,
nos.263-264.
285
TWO EMBROIDERED SILK FAN CASES
19th century
Both finely embroidered in counted stitch technique, the first with two
deep coral-red bats hovering amidst vaporous ruyi clouds executed
in vibrant blue shades, the blue cord with a pair of porcelain spheres
decorated with polychrome floral designs, 30.5cm (12in) long; the
second 18th century example of fine silk gauze finely-embroidered
in subtly-coloured silk and gold and silver wrapped threads with an
intricate diaper pattern incorporating Shou and Shuangxi characters
with similar woven edgings, the yellow cord with couched gold knots,
31cm (12 2/8in) long. (2).
£800 - 1,200
CNY7,100 - 11,000
十九世紀 扇套兩件
Provenance: Linda Wrigglesworth, London
來源：倫敦Linda Wrigglesworth
Finely woven with auspicious designs of bats and elegant medallions
enclosing the characters for longevity and double happiness, the
present fan cases would have been suspended from a belt girdle
worn around the waist, over a silk robe. Compare with a related silk
fan case, part of a complete set for a high-ranking official, illustrated
by V.Garret, Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the Present,
Claredon, VT, 2008, pp.89-91. Also compare the bats depicted on
one of these fan cases with the designs depicted on a silk drawstring
285 purse, late 19th century, illustrated by J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks. Ch’ing
Dynasty Textiles from the Minneapolis Institute of arts, Minneapolis,
MA, 2000, p.363.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue. FINE CHINESE ART | 107