Page 94 - Christies Asia Week 2015 Chinese Works of Art

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF AN AMERICAN GENTLEMAN

2066
A VERY FINE EMBROIDERED BLUE-GROUND DRAGON ROBE,
MANGPAO
19TH CENTURY

The vibrant blue ground is worked in couched gold threads and
satin stitch with highlights in lime-green in the front and back with
fve-clawed dragons confronting faming pearls around a bowl of
fruit, amidst eight cranes on both front and back and bats woven in
shades of lime-green and forest-green, all amidst Daoist emblems.
The terrestrial diagram and lishui stripe at the hem are tossed with the
bajixiang (Eight Buddhist Emblems).
53¿ in. (134.8 cm.) long x 81æ in. (207.6 cm.) wide

$20,000-30,000

PROVENANCE:

Jon Eric Riis, Atlanta, 2007.

The use of bright lime-green and dark green threads to accentuate
features, enliven this group of blue-ground embroidered dragon robes. The
high quality of the embroidery is further emphasized by the application of
couched gold threads used to highlight the three dimensional quality of the
dragons.

The inclusion of the eight cranes embroidered on each side reinforce the
auspicious wishes conveyed in the design of this robe. A kesi blue-ground
mangpao from the William E. Colby Collection, also with eight cranes on
each side, is illustrated by R.D. Jacobsen, Imperial Silks, Ch’ing Dynasty
Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, vol. I, Minneapolis, 2000, p.
770, pp. 214-25, no. 78.

清十九世紀 石青地繡龍紋蟒袍

92 (detail)