Page 104 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF AN AMERICAN GENTLEMAN

3127

AN EXTREMELY RARE IMPERIAL KESI SURCOAT,
LONGGUA

QIANLONG-JIAQING PERIOD (1736-1820)

Made for an Empress or first-level consort, the front-opening
longgua is woven on the shoulders with the hare stirring the
elixir of life and the three-legged cockerel, two of the Twelve
Symbols of Imperial Authority. The front and back are woven
with symmetrically arranged dragon roundels, each with side-
facing dragons clutching flaming pearls amidst bats suspending
wan emblems beneath Shou characters, all above auspicious objects
issuing from the lishui stripe and terrestrial diagram at the hem, and
against a midnight-blue ground with yellow silk lining.
72 in. (183 cm.) wide

HK$800,000-1,200,000 US$110,000-160,000

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