Page 98 - Bonhams FINE CHINESE ART London November 2 2021

This remarkable robe, notable for its exquisite and complex The term ‘sea house’, haiwu, probably referred to Kunlun, the fabled
embroidery, vivid depictions of cranes and most unusual terrestrial fairyland of the Immortals, rising from the Oceans of Eternity which
diagram, made of elegant pavilions floating above rolling waves, was is often represented by a pavilion or mansion built atop an isle, with
probably made for a First Rank Prince, one of the sons of the Emperor. refined caves and lavish gardens full of propitious flowers and plants,
ponds made of gold and trees made of gemstones. Imperishable
A closely-related embroidered chestnut-ground robe, dated to 1738, and magnificent in its loftiness, this land was the perfect goal of the
excavated from the tomb of Prince Guo (1797-1738), seventeenth son adept’s quest for Immortality; see Wu Hung, ‘Mapping Early Daoist
of the Kangxi Emperor, is similarly embroidered with vivid designs of Art: The Visual Culture of Wudoumi Dao’, in S.Little, Taoism and the
five-clawed dragons, cranes carrying tallies in their beaks and pavilions Arts of China, Berkeley, 2000, p.85. Cranes were also considered
on lattice ground, illustrated by J.Vollmer, Imperial Silks. Ch’ing Dynasty important constituents of Kunlun. As birds with a long life span, they
Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Chicago, 2000, p.143, were deemed celestial beings, symbolising longevity, wisdom and
no.42. divine grace; see M.Wan, ‘Emperor Jiajing and His Auspicious Words’,
in Archives of Asian Art, vol.57, pp.95-120 and P.Sturman, Cranes
According to the ‘Illustrated Regulations for the Ritual Paraphernalia above Kaifeng: The Auspicious Image at the Court of Huizong, in Ars
of the Imperial Court ‘Huangchao liqi tushi 皇朝禮器圖式, edited in Orientalis, 1990, p.33-68.
1759, the brown colour for garments, qiuxiangse, was one of the five
Imperial shades of yellow which could only be used by the innermost Reinforcing the wish for extended happiness to last for eternity,
family circle of the Emperor; see J.Vollmer, Ruling from the Dragon the blue fret ground, so finely embroidered on the present robe, is
Throne: Costumes of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Berlekey, CA, an endless pattern incorporating the leiwen designs, meaning ten-
2002, pp.85. thousand, thus forming the pun for ‘May ten-thousand generations be
granted happiness’.
This exceptional robe may have been worn by the Imperial family
member during birthday celebrations. The auspicious combination of The combination of cranes carrying tallies, pavilions and Immortal
the sea hai, the pavilions wu and the tallies chou carried by the cranes figures became a popular subject decorating objects destined for use
underscore the auspicious wish for long life, forming the rebus Haiwu by the Qing Court during the Yongzheng reign. See a doucai bowl,
Tianchou 海屋添籌, which can be translated as ‘Adding tallies to Yongzheng mark and period, in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
the Immortal’s abode above the sea’. The literary origin of the scene London, illustrated by R.Kerr, Chinese Art and Design, London, 1997,
originated in ‘Conversations of Three Old Men’, from the ‘Collected p.57; see also a blue and white dish, Chenghua mark but Yongzheng
Writings by Su Dongpo’ Dongpo zhilin 東坡志林, by the Northern period, from the Cleveland Museum of Art, acc.no.1989.315. See also
Song scholar Su Shi (1037-1101 AD). During one chance meeting an 18th century kesi silk panel, Ming dynasty, embroidered with cranes
of three Immortals, the topic of age was broached. Each one of the carrying tallies, hovering above pavilions floating in waters, in the
sages tried their best to exaggerate their own great age. The second National Palace Museum, Taipei, acc.no.GU-SI-000068-00000.
sage famously boasted, ‘After every cycle of the sea drying up and
becoming mulberry fields, I put a strip of bamboo in my house as a ‘Dragon robes’ were supreme significant social markers representing
counter and now the tallies have already filled ten houses’. access to power. The right to wear such garments depended on rank
and status. The Manchu rulers of the Qing dynasty were keen on
By the Qing dynasty, when pun rebus design became increasingly projecting an evocative and powerful image of themselves, and their
popular and the character chou 籌 for bamboo strip counter acquired Court costumes conveyed legitimacy and heritage. Despite their initial
a pun on shou 壽 meaning longevity, the Haiwu Tianchou 海屋添籌 reluctance to wear the same type of robes as their Ming predecessors,
phrase became a popular allusion conveying the birthday wish ‘May by the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, the Manchu elites were keen
the length of your life be eternally prolonged ‘Hai wu tian shou’ wearers of richly-ornamented ‘dragon’ robes on semi-formal Court
海屋添壽. occasions and official duties.

In Han Chinese thought, the five-clawed dragon was the quintessential
symbol of Imperial power, embodying royalty, dominion and expressing
the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the
wellbeing of his subjects. Capable of flying high in the sky and diving
back into the sea, dragons were regarded as intermediaries between
Heaven and Earth and credited with extraordinary powers that
compared to those of the Emperor. Even the number nine, for the
dragons depicted on the present robe, is highly evocative and likened
to the power of Heaven. The multiple of three threes, nine has a long
association with the Emperor. In addition, the ‘Records of the Grand
Historian’ Shiji, completed during the first century BC, recounts that,
having tamed the floods that once engulfed the land, the mythical
Emperor Yu divided the territory into the Nine Provinces and collected
bronze in tribute from each one. Thereafter he cast the metal into nine
large tripod cauldrons. These vessels thus were at the heart of ruler’s
possessions and symbolic conveyers of power.

Stylistically, the five-clawed front-facing dragons and trailing wispy
clouds of the present robe closely compare with their counterpart
woven on an Imperial yellow-ground kesi robe, Yongzheng, in the
collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, acc.
Image courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MA no.42.8.11.

96 | BONHAMS