Page 178 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art London Nov. 2019

Authority in Silk
The Hidden Tales of a Sublime Imperial ‘Twelve-Symbol’ Apricot-Ground Robe

Linda Wrigglesworth

Superbly woven in the refined kesi technique with nine resplendent, and vigour. According to the ‘Book of History’ (Shujing 書經), the
lively, five-clawed dragons riding the heavens and finely worked in legendary Emperor Shun, believed to have ruled during the third
metallic gold threads amidst a profusion of shaded blue trailing clouds millennium BC, referred to these symbols as suitable decoration for
interspersed with the Twelve Symbols of Imperial Sovereignty, the imperial formal attire and in 1766, the Qianlong emperor restricted
present robe is exceptionally rare for its pristine condition. No identical the use of these motifs to imperial robes (See note 5).
examples would appear to have been preserved in public collections.
A rigid scheme defined the position of the Twelve Symbols on the
The yellow lining, dragon cuffs, neck bands and gold brocade robes. The sun, moon, stars, and mountain, symbolised the four
edgings are all original to the robe. In addition, the imperial dragons main ceremonies which the emperor presided throughout the year
emerging from the turbulent waves and the roundels depicting further at the Altars of Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon. They were placed
dragons, woven within the rich midnight-blue ground of the sleeve in pairs at the shoulders, chest and mid-back area. The paired
extensions, are very unusual and rarely encountered on imperial dragons, the golden pheasant, the confronted ji character and the
orange-ground robes. hatchet, represented all things on earth and the ruler’s ability to
make decisions. They decorated the chest area, while the sacrificial
This robe probably dates to the 1880s and may have been worn vessels, the aquatic grass, the grains of millet and the flames,
by the Guangxu emperor (1871-1908) during the earlier years of his representing ancestor worship and four of the Five Elements, were
reign. The apricot-orange colour xinghuang, is referred to in the placed at the mid-calf level of the coat.
Huangchao liqi tushi 皇朝禮器圖式 (‘Illustrated Precedents for the
Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court’), edited in 1759, as one of The seven-shaded lishui bands are flawlessly woven and include the
the ‘Five Imperial Yellows’ used at the Qing Court, which could only aniline purple tone, which was imported into China from Europe circa
be worn by Princes and Princesses of the First Rank and Imperial 1863 and was highly-favoured by the Dowager empress Cixi (See note 6).
Consorts of the Second and Third Degree (See note 1).
Compare with a related orange-ground, ‘Twelve-Symbol’ kesi robe,
Following the death of the Tongzhi emperor in 1875 and in the absence Guangxu period, lacking the water dragons from the foaming waves
of an immediate heir, his mother, the formidable Dowager empress, in the lishui and featuring the more common gilded stripes on the
Cixi, designated her four-year old nephew, Zaitian, to be successor to sleeve extensions instead of the woven ‘dragon’ roundels, which
the throne as the Guangxu emperor, although she continued to be in decorate the present robe, from the Mactaggart Art Collection,
control of the government for the first fourteen years of the new ruler’s University of Alberta Museum, Alberta, illustrated by J.Vollmer and
reign (See note 2). At this time, the court dress legislation, promulgated J.Simcox, Emblems of the Empire, Alberta, 2009, pp.30 and 31.
by the Qianlong emperor more than a century earlier, appears to have
become similarly adapted to these new circumstances. Not only do
numerous portraits depict the Dowager empress wearing imperial FOOTNOTES

yellow robes, as was appropriate to her rank, but also a few ‘Twelve- 1. M.Medley, The Illustrated Regulations for Ceremonial Parphernalia of the
Symbol’ robes, dating to the Guangxu emperor’s reign, survive Ch’ing Dynasty, London, 1982.
displaying a wide range of the basic ground colours. These deviations
probably reflected empress Cixi’s break from the Court conventions of 2. M.Holdsworth and C.Courtauld, Forbidden City: The Great Within, London,
previous times, particularly when she appointed her nephew Zaitian, a 1995, p.123.
cousin of the Tongzhi emperor, to succeed him (See note 3). Within this 3. J.Vollmer and J.Simcox, Emblems of Empire, Alberta, 2009, p.30.
context, an apricot-ground ‘Twelve-Symbol’ robe would have certainly
been considered appropriate to signify the young Guangxu emperor’s 4. L.S.Kwong, ‘Chinese Politics at the Cross-roads: Reflections on the
status as heir apparent, when he had not yet formally assumed control Hundred Days Reform of 1898,’ Modern Asian Studies, 2000, vol.34, no. 3,
of the government (See note 4). pp.663-95.
5. G.Dickinson and L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2002,
The quintessential symbol of imperial power, five-clawed dragons pp.14-30.
embodied royalty and dominion and expressed the visual metaphor
of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the wellbeing of his 6. R. Silberstein, ‘Vicious Purple’ or a “First Class Dye”?: Finding a Place for
subjects. The Twelve Symbols of Imperial Authority further reinforce the Foreign in Nineteenth-Century Chinese Dress Culture,’ Paper presented
the emperor’s essence over eloquence, articulation, forcefulness at College Art Association Annual Conference, New York, 2013.