QIANLONG-JIAQING PERIOD (1736-1820)

The exceptionally fine tailoring, together with the depiction of dragons grasping—rather than pursuing—flaming pearls, suggests that the material for this robe was intended for a person of very high rank. It is possible that it was made for Aisin Gioro Yongyan before his accession as the Jiaqing Emperor, following the Qianlong Emperor’s formal retirement in 1795.

A comparable 18^th century apricot-ground silk embroidered dragon robe is illustrated by R. D. Jacobsen in Imperial Silks: Ch’ing Dynasty Textiles in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, vol. 1, Minnesota, 2000, pp. 146–47, no. 44. Another, a related apricot-ground dragon robe, Jiaqing period, in the Qing Court Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, acc. no. 00042987. See, also, the apricot-ground embroidered dragon robe with nearly identical embroidery sold at Bonhams London, 13 May 2021, lot 82.