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54 ? in. (138.4 cm.) long x 56 ? in. (142.8 cm.) wide
The present surcoat was likely worn over a longpao, or semi-formal dragon robe, by a high-ranking imperial consort. The Huangchao liqi tushi (Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court) promulgated by the Qianlong Emperor in 1759, specified the styles of longgua for court women of the highest ranks including the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and imperial consorts of the first, second and third rank. The empress dowager and empress were permitted to wear two types of longgua. The first had eight roundels displaying front-facing long dragons on the chest, back and shoulders with profile dragons at the lower front and back of the coat, above wave motifs on the hem and sleeves. Imperial consorts of the first, second, and third degree were also permitted to wear the first type of longgua. An example of this style, with eight roundels of five-clawed dragons with wave borders at the hem and sleeve edges can be found on a manuscript of the Huangchao liqi tushi in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, ink and color on silk, 1736-1795, accession number 868-1896. The script above the robe states that the robe was made for Imperial concubines of the first rank. The present lot is an example of this type of longgua. The second style of longgua had the same organization of dragon roundels as the first style, but without the wave motif on the hem and sleeves. Imperial consorts of the fourth degree and lower were permitted to wear this type of longgua (without the wave design), but the lower roundels on their coats were decorated with two-toed gui dragons.