A RARE DOWAGER EMPRESS COURT ROBE FOR THE NEW YEAR, QIPAO

CIRCA 1880

Details

A RARE DOWAGER EMPRESS COURT ROBE FOR THE NEW YEAR, QIPAO
CIRCA 1880
The pale pink silk ground finely worked with couched gold and silver threads and satin-stitched green tones in a pattern of flowering narcissus bulbs, each cluster of bulbs unique, all within black narcissus borders, with similarly embroidered white cuffs
53 in. (134.6 cm.) long

Lot Essay

Compare a padded robe with a similar all-over design of unique sprays of orchids illustrated in Empress Dowager Cixi: Her Art of Living, Regional Council, Hong Kong, and Palace Museum, Beijing, 1996, p. 35.

Shuixian hua ('Water Fairy Flower'), or narcissus, is so named as the bulb may be forced into bloom in a vessel containing only pebbles and water. Bringing beauty and fragrance in the midst of the cold season, the narcissus is an emblem of the New Year and good fortune for the twelve months ahead.
According to a label sewn into the collar, this robe was worn in the 1963 film, 55 Giorni al Peschino (55 Days in Peking).

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