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55 ? in. (140.3 cm.) long x 79 ? in. (201.9 cm.) wide
Robert Brandt, London.
The fabric of this dragon robe with its supplemental weft-patterned satin weave is a rare and an exceptional example of the early 18th century production for the Qing imperial court. The style of the pattern and the ground color (a slightly greenish-tinged yellow) suggests it was commissioned by the Imperial Household Department for the wardrobe of a high-ranking woman in the very late Kangxi or, more likely, in the Yongzheng period court.The weaving is flawless; the patterning designed to the shape of the garment. The drawing of the pattern with the dragons and elements of the visible universe (mountains, clouds and water) reveals several innovations dating from the early 18th century. Both the front-facing dragons on the upper body of the robe and the profile dragons of the lower parts of the robe are drawn at the same scale—a shift from the earlier Qing convention, which gave prominence to the front-facing dragons at the chest and center back by increasing their size in comparison to the profile dragons. The inclusion of the li shui (standing water) supporting ruyi-head cloud heads is an innovation of the late 17th century added to the wave and billow border at garment hems. While the li shui would come to dominate hem borders by the mid-18th century, here they are balanced, typical of Yongzheng-period designs. The variety of sinuous cloud forms with interior contour lines are a departure from the more rigid cloud forms with three- or four-lobed cloud heads with streaming tails seen on early Qing designs. This convention is one of several new cloud concepts that appear on Yongzheng-period designs. The greenish tinge of the ground color is to be read as the special shade of yellow known as 'autumn incense color' (qiu xiangse). According to Qing court dress regulations issued in 1694, for important ceremonies or sacrificial activities, the dress of the emperor, empress and empress dowager should be made of yellow or 'autumn incense'-colored damask, with patterns of three-claw or five-claw dragons. The regulations further note that yellow or 'autumn incense' color are not allowed to be used for the robes of imperial noble consorts. The color is again included in a list of forbidden colors for the dress of officials and military personnel as per a regulation issued in 1724.In light of these regulations, it is tempting to suggest this fabric may have been commissioned for the wardrobe of the Lady Ula Nara Duoqimuli (1681-1731), who married the future Yongzheng emperor in 1681 and upon his accession in 1722 became his primary consort. In 1723, she was instated as Empress. Upon her death in 1731, Duoqimuli was given the posthumous title Xiaojingxian. In the four years before his death in 1735, the Yongzheng emperor elevated no other consort to the position of empress. There are only two comparable supplemental weft-patterned satin jifu for women dating from the early 18th century known to this writer. The cartoon pattern used for an apricot-yellow satin robe in the Gugong collection is nearly identical to the dragon robe in this sale. (Fig.1) Although the Gugong robe bears a paper tag inscribed with the date of its inclusion in the collection of Qing imperial dress of Qianlong 32 (1767), the garment is acknowledged as dating from the Yongzheng period (1722-1735). Another supplemental weft-patterned satin jifu with a closely related pattern cartoon on a yellow satin ground is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts (41.74.2). This robe, acquired from Titanic survivor Irene Wallace (Mrs. Henry B. Harris), the New York theater producer, offers an interesting parallel. Its neck facings and cuffs are embroidered, rather than supplemental weft-pattern as seen in the Gugong robe. The neck and front overlap facing on the robe in the sale, are also of the period the coat body, is embroidered with dragon roundels on nearly black-blue silk satin. While the mixture of embroidered and supplemental weft-patterned fabrics on the same imperial court garment is unusual, it seems to have been part of this robe since the garment was initially tailored.The visual impact of the original robe has been restored by recreating the missing sleeve extension and cuff configuration with contemporary materials. A second example from the Gugong collection, Beijing—an embroidered dark blue satin jifu—with comparable dragon roundel-decorated facings, cuffs and bands, served as a guide for the placement of the dragon ornaments on the replacement pieces.John E. Vollmer, New York1. Draft History of [the] Qing [dynasty] (Qing shi gao), vol. 103, section 24. https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb=674292 (accessed November 10, 2019) Section 24.2. Ibid., Section 49 3. Ibid., Section 162 4. Lee, Lily Xiao Hong and A. D. Stefanowska (editors-in-chief), Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Qing Period 1644-1911, London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2015, pp. 350-351.5. Palace Museum, Beijing, Gugong bowuyuan cang wenwu zhenpin quanji 51: Qingdai Gongting Fushi, [The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace 51: Costumes and Accessories of Emperor and Empresses of the Qing Dynasty], Hong Kong: The Commercial Press Ltd., no. 93, pp. 153-154.6. Jacobsen, Robert D., Imperial Silks: Ch’ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Vol. 1, 2000, no. 37, pp. 132-133, acc. no. 41.74.27. Ibid., no. 96, pp. 157.