Page 40 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

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AN EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE IMPERIAL SILK KESI ‘DOUBLE-
DRAGON’ WALL HANGING
Qianlong
The impressive panel finely woven in gold and colourful threads with a
pair of confronted ferocious five-clawed dragons, the scaly creatures
framed by flaring horns and flowing mane, enclosing a Shou character
and bat medallion, all on a dense ground of trailing five-coloured
clouds on a midnight-blue ground, mounted.
307cm (120 1/2in) wide x 195cm (76 6/8in) high.

£40,000 - 60,000
CNY360,000 - 530,000
清乾隆 御製緙絲雙龍捧壽掛屏

Provenance: Sotheby’s London, 14 May 2008, lot 679
An English private collection

來源：倫敦蘇富比，2008年5月14日，拍品編號679
英國私人收藏

Superbly woven and impressive in its exceptionally large size, this In Han Chinese thought, the five-clawed dragon was the quintessential
magnificent panel is a splendid testament to the scale and opulence of symbol of Imperial power, embodying royalty and dominion. Capable
the Qianlong Court. The exquisite tapestry wold have probably been of flying high in the sky and diving back into the sea, dragons were
hung in one of the ceremonial halls for a special occasions, likely the regarded in China as intermediaries between Heaven and Earth and
Emperor’s birthday, as suggested by the ferocious five-clawed dragons empowered with extraordinary powers that compared with those of
alternating with Shou characters, the wan symbols and the lingzhi fungi the Emperors. In conjunction with the flaming pearl, the dragon formed
resting on bats: these auspicious designs convey the rebus Wan Wan the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the well-
Shou which may be translated as ‘May you live for 10,000 years’, the being of his subjects. Sumptuous silks decorated with dragons thus
Imperial birthday greeting reserved for the Emperor. therefore, facilitated the Manchus’ transformation of their image in the
eyes of the Han populations to legitimate rulers of China.
Large hangings with Imperial dragon imagery were used throughout
the throne rooms and palaces of the Forbidden City, displaying the The style of the powerful dragons decorating the present panel recalls
same symbolic colouration and celestial landscape imagery employed the creatures adoring Imperial Court robes of the Qianlong period.
on Court robes. As with throne cushions, the designs on major Court See the side dragons decorating the lower part of a blue-ground
hangings were specified by Court artisans of the Ju-i-kuan, and the kesi ‘dragon’ robe, late 18th century, illustrated by J.Vollmer, Imperial
actual fabrication occurred in one of the Court-administered textile Silks. Ch’ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
workshops; see J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks. Ch’ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis, MA, 2000, p.141, no.41.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MA, 2000, p.949-951.

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