Page 238 - Christie's Asia Week March 2024 Chinese Art

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART INCLUDING THE COLLECTION OF DOROTHY TAPPER GOLDMAN

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The Property of a Noblewoman
1125
AN IMPERIAL RED AND GILT-DECORATED PROVENANCE:
BLACK LACQUER 'NINE DRAGON' THRONE BASE Manheim Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1996.
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
貴族珍藏
19æ in. (50.2 cm.) high, 64 in. (162.5 cm.) wide, 43 in. (109.3 cm.) deep 清康熙 御製黑ঃ朱漆描金̏龍紋寶座臺
Property from the Collection of George and Rosemary Lois This elegant robe is finely woven with The Twelve Symbols of Imperial
$25,000-35,000 Ϝ源
Manheim 藝廊, 新奧ḓ良, ㊌易斯安那州, 1996年 ~1126 Authority, which were prescribed by official dress edicts and first
appeared on the Manchu emperor’s clothing in 1759. These symbols
AN IMPERIAL YELLOW FUR-TRIMMED KESI
were superimposed on the general decorative scheme of Qing court
TWELVE-SYMBOL 'DRAGON' ROBE FOR AN garments, and could only be worn by the emperor, empress, empress
EMPRESS, LONGPAO dowager, and crown prince. Yellow robes, like the present robe, could
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908) only be worn by the emperor and empress. These symbols are arranged
51q x 67æ in. (130.8 x 172.1 cm.) in three groups of four: the sun, the moon, constellation, mountain,
fu symbol, axe, paired dragons, golden pheasant, pair of libation
$40,000-60,000
cups, aquatic grass, grains of millet and flames. The presence of these
PROVENANCE: symbols, combined with the Guangxu-period dating, indicate that
Sotheby's New York, 18 June 1980, lot 277. this robe was likely made for the Dowager Empress Cixi or her niece,
Linda Wrigglesworth Ltd., London, 2001. Empress Longyu.
Charles D. Kelekian (1900-1982), New York.
George Lois (1931-2022) and Rosemary Lois (1930-2022), New York, acquired Kesi robes are of the most desirable and difficult to preserve, due to the
from the above and thence by descent to the current owner. delicate nature of the technique and painterly outcome of the design.
They come in varying quality, particularly in the nineteenth century,
but the delicate outlining and fine shading, rather than painting, of the
George 暨 Rosemary Lois伉儷珍藏 Twelve Symbols on the present robe indicate that it is of the highest
清Բ緒 御製黃ঃ緙絲金龍十̣⒯后妃龍袍 quality. This robe would likely have taken at least two years to complete.
Ϝ源
紐☼蘇富比, 1980年6月18日, 拍品編號277 The sable fur trim on this robe indicates that it was made for wear
Linda Wrigglesworth, і敦, 2001年 during autumn or spring, when members of the imperial family often
Charles D. Kelekian 1900 1982
, 紐☼ wore robes lined with fur.
George Lois 1931 2022
暨 Rosemary Lois 1930 2022
伉儷, 紐☼, ㈂自˖述۵
董商, 後於家族ҷ承 Interestingly, in addition to its imperial history, this robe was also worn
in the 1963 film ’55 Days in Peking,’ by the late Dame Flora Robson,
who played the Dowager Empress.