KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

Details

A VERY RARE EMBROIDERED CIVIL OFFICIAL RANK BADGE OF A PEACOCK, BUZI
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
Made for a civil official of the third rank and worked in satin stitch and couched gold thread, the peacock (kongqiue) is shown coiled to form a circle surrounded by trailing ruyi-shaped clouds and the sun above a pierced rock emerging from waves tossed with 'precious objects'. All is worked in shades of blue, coral, green and white silk thread reserved against the rich ground of couched gold thread, within a classic scroll border of couched gold thread. The badge is now mounted in the center of a blue satin canopy or priest's robe with embroidered borders.
Rank badge 14 x 13¾ in. (35.5 x 35 cm.)
Canopy/priest's robe 65¾ in. (167 cm.) square

Literature

B. Jackson and David Hugus, Ph.D., Ladder to Heaven, Berkeley, 1999, cover and p. 224.

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Michael Bass

mbass@Christies.com + 1 212 636 2176

Lot Essay

Compare the peacock rank badge of similar type, where the bird forms a circle against a gold couched thread ground, dated to the Shunzhi period, c. 1650, illustrated by L. Wrigglesworth in the exhibition catalogue, 'The Badge of Rank' China, 19 April - 13 May 1990, p. 27, where it can be seen to be a badge for the back of a robe, and is illustrated across from the badge for the front, which is in the form of two halves, each worked with a similar circular peacock on a gold ground.

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