A WOMAN'S EMBROIDERED DARK BLUE-GROUND SILK QUASI-OFFICIAL VEST, XIA PEI

ANOTHER PROPERTY

細節

A WOMAN'S EMBROIDERED DARK BLUE-GROUND SILK QUASI-OFFICIAL VEST, XIA PEI
19TH CENTURY

Worked in satin stitch, Peking knot and couched gold thread above a lishui stripe at the irregular, tasseled hem, displaying a pair of confronted dragons amidst clouds and bats interspersed with eight pairs of various birds representing emblems of civil court bureaucracy, applied on the front and back with a kesi gold-ground rank badge woven with a paradise flycatcher denoting a ninth rank official, with silk side tabs and closure tie at the front (some wear)
39¼in. (101cm.) long

拍品專文

The wives of Chinese officials often wore the badges of their husband's rank on the front and back of sleeveless garments, called xia pei. A similar embroidered xia pei is illustrated by Gary Dickinson and Linda Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, London, 1990, pl. 168. The eight pairs of birds which appear on this garment are emblems of civil court beauracracy. See John E. Vollmer, Decoding Dragons: Status Garments in Ch'ing Dynasty China, University of Oregon Museum of Art, 1983, p. 190, catalogue entry for pl. 19

Compare the example sold in these rooms, March 23, 1995, lot 274