AN UNMADE PAIR OF IMPERIAL KESI YELLOW-GROUND PURSES

GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)

Details

AN UNMADE PAIR OF IMPERIAL KESI YELLOW-GROUND PURSES
GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908)
Each half worked in gold and multicolored threads with a shou character flanked by a pair of bats suspending ribbon-tied wan emblems above a wave and lishui border
17 7/8 x 8½ in. (45.5 x 21.6 cm.), matted

Provenance

Purchased London, 1977.

Lot Essay

The two purses when made up would have been worn by the emperor with his most formal court dress.
A sheet of uncut purses executed in kesi in the Denver Art Museum is illustrated by J. Seagraves, "Qing Dynasty Costumes from the Denver Art Museum", Chinese and Central Asian Textiles: Selected articles from Orientations 1983-1997, p. 130, fig. 12, which shows how various shapes of purses were woven on one sheet.

More from The Imperial Wardrobe: Fine Chinese Costume And Textiles From The Linda Wrigglesworth Collection

View All