LATE 19TH CENTURY

细节

A DARK BROWN-GROUND EMBROIDERED SILK OFFICIAL'S FORMAL COURT ROBE, CHAOFU
Late 19th century
Worked in couched gold thread and multi-colored satin stitch on the upper half with four five-clawed dragons amidst clouds and Buddhist emblems, above the terrestrial diagram at the waist, the attached pleated, flared apron similarly worked, and incorporating twelve dragon roundels above the hem, joined by a narrow waistband decorated with confronted dragons
54½in. (138.5cm.) long

来源

Linda Wrigglesworth, Ltd.

拍品专文

The chaofu was the most formal of Manchu court garments and was worn at the most important court functions, including the annual sacrifices performed by the emperor himself. The two-part construction of the chaofu, comprising a bodice and sleeves attached to a pleated skirt, was probably influenced by Ming court dress. Manchu features include the horsehoof cuff and small, decorative lappet (ren), which may have originally functioned as a scabbard slide. Compare a very similar blue-black-ground chaofu made for an Imperial prince, c. 1890-1905, illustrated by J.E. Vollmer, Five Colors of the Universe: Symbolism in Clothes and Fabric of the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911), Edmonton Art Gallery, 1980, p. 31.