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AN IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE IMPERIAL YELLOW BROCADE DRAGON ROBE, JIFU -

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AN IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE IMPERIAL YELLOW BROCADE DRAGON ROBE, JIFU
以中文顯示
Estimate
(Set Currency)
    HK$2,500,000 - HK$3,000,000
  • ($324,032 - $388,839)

Sale Information

Sale 2711
the imperial saleimportant chinese ceramics and works of art
27 May 2009
Convention Hall Buy Catalog




Lot Description

AN IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE IMPERIAL YELLOW BROCADE DRAGON ROBE, JIFU
KANGXI PERIOD (1677-1722)

Very finely worked in gold-wrapped thread and gold paper strip elements with nine contorted dragons clutching 'flaming pearls' amidst stylised clouds in shades of blue, red, green and ochre, all reserved on a rich, yellow-ground above the terrestrial diagram and the various treasures amidst rolling waves with lishui stripe at the hem, the sleeves with similar borders terminating in horseshoe cuffs
53 1/4 in. (135 cm.) long x 80 1/2 in. (204 cm.) across


清康熙 御製明黃繡龍紋吉服

此袍設計屬明清過渡時期的風格. 明代龍袍, 上方的正龍體積比下方的 兩條龍大, 至清代, 上方的龍體積 越來 越小, 而下方的則越來越大, 直至二者體積相等. 本袍下方的兩條龍較一般明代的龍為大, 但仍明顯地較上方小. 此袍織錦領口細小是典型十八世紀的特色, 領上紋樣設計簡單, 不似晚清時期繁複. 式樣亦比晚期簡潔.

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Pre-Lot Text

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

Provenance

A German private collection, acquired before 1938

Lot Notes

The design of this robe reveals the development of early Qing dynasty court robes. The treatment of Ming dynasty longpao, or dragon robe decorative strategies emphasized the large dragons on the upper sections of the robes. Qing dynasty tastes placed more or less equal emphasis on the dragons, giving them prominence in the overall design scheme. On this robe the two lower dragons are comparatively much larger than on the Ming versions but still noticeably smaller than the central upper dragon. The sleeves and cuffs are made from the same material as the robe. By the mid-eighteenth century different fabrics would be used for the sleeve extensions and cuffs as illustrated in Huangchao liqi tushi , Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Imperial Court, which was compiled in 1759 and enforced in 1766. The simple binding at the neck and small gilt buttons are also typical of early eighteenth century robes.


There are few surviving examples of Qing imperial dragon robes dated to the early eighteenth century. Compare a blue dragon robe dated to the first quarter of the eighteenth century in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, illustrated by John E. Vollmer in Ruling From The Dragon Throne, Berkeley/Toronto, 2002, p. 100, fig. 4.18. Another robe in ivory, dated to the early eighteenth century in the Chris Hall Collection is illustrated in Power Dressing: Textile for Rulers and Priests from the Chris Hall Collection, Singapore, 2006, p.136, fig. 19. Other examples include a chestnut brown robe illustrated by John E. Vollmer in the exhibition catalogue Five Colours of the Universe, Edmonton Art Gallery, 7 November 1980-11 January 1981, pp. 20-21, and a pale blue example, illustrated by Judith Rutherford and Jackie Menzies in Celestial Silks, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2004, p. 65, fig. 31, now in a private collection in Melbourne.

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